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What does it take to win the game? The answer to this question often dictates the primary philosophy that coaches use as the basis of their decisions. Under ever-increasing pressure to win, every coach and player has been encouraged to bend or break the rules. In the world of sports, why is it so difficult to discern what constitutes cheating?
Olympic speed-skater Chad Hedrick was part of a two-medal finish in the 1,000-meter finals Wednesday night, winning a bronze medal. After winning gold in the 2006 Olympics, Hedrick is one of the most prominent figures in Olympic speed-skating today. Yesterday, Hedrick was featured on the radio broadcast of Haven Today with the key line of the intro, “Chad Hedrick is not the same Chad Hedrick of four years ago.”
During this interview, Hedrick discussed his recent conversion experience. He admitted that most people knew him as a guy who worked hard and played hard. In describing his commitment to Christ, he said, “Now I find myself…really living a godly life now. I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”
It was the biggest race of the season. All the runners were ready to go. The rugged course was full of hills and rough terrain, but it was THE race of the year. Every runner was excited to go. With a single shot the runners raced toward the opening in the woods. Early in the race seven runners broke from the pack and came to a fork in the path. The lead runner made the choice and each runner followed in stride.
Every Wednesday night at about 6 p.m. I hear these words: "We need to get in the right place before Saturday!" This is the charge given to his team by Coach Randy Walker, head football coach at Northwestern University. He challenges his team, staff and everyone present to get in the right mindset mentally, physically and spiritually before they play on Saturday. He is constantly encouraging his team to get in the right place.
The first race I ever ran was a marathon. Talk about starting with a bang! I always played team sports and raced until I ran the dreaded 26.2-miler. It was an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned firsthand the four key aspects to every race, and they all can be related to our spiritual life.
The race is against the competition. There were thousands of competitors I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. In the same way, when we run the race for Christ, we have three main competitors: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Each one intends to prevent us from crossing the finish line.
The first race I ever ran was a marathon, an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned there are four key aspects to a race, and they all relate to our spiritual life.
We race against competition. There were thousands of runners I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. When we run the race for Christ, we compete against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We race against the clock. Every mile a clock declared I was nearing the end. People say since we only go around once, live it up. Christ says since we only go around once, make it count.
We race for a prize. I received a medal for completing the marathon. As Christians, our prize is heaven and eternity with God!
The Boston Red Sox saw little potential in their 24-year-old pitcher. He’d had a couple of decent years, but he had showed little sign of improvement. Eventually, the team traded him to the New York Yankees, who decided to move him to the outfield to utilize his strong arm. The Yankees also believed that he could become a good hitter. They were right. Years later, few people remember that Babe Ruth began his career as a mediocre pitcher in Boston!
Sometimes we think we are doing the right thing only to find out we were really off track!
A while ago I went on a training run with my wife to get ready for my first 5k race in over a year. It felt great to get back out on the road, and the run was pretty uneventful.
Later that night, we headed to a friend's house, and when I looked down, panic set in. My wedding ring was missing from my hand. I checked my pockets; nothing. I quietly walked outside to retrace my steps, and still nothing. When was the last time I'd had it? How could I lose the one thing that symbolized this important commitment in my life?
During our training run the weather had been cool, my hands sweaty. Somewhere, during the four miles of sidewalks, intersections and city streets, my wedding ring had slipped off.
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