Closing Ceremonies and Spiritual Disciplines

So the 2008 Summer Olympics have come to a close and what a great event it was to watch. As I sat in front of the TV watching the closing ceremonies my mind began to think about all of the hard work that had gone into making the games what they were.

First you had all of the volunteers and effort put forth by those in China that made it all flow and made the opening and closing events some of the greatest in history. Then you had all of the "discipline" by the athletes that actually competed in the games. Nobody showed up in China, hoping to win, having not put in thousands of hours in training and working out.

I think there is a connection between these games and the reality of the discipline that will be required of us to experience the life Christ has called us to experience. In our current series "Pillars" we are talking about some of the ancient paths of following Christ and the Spiritual Disciplines that when present in our lives, create space for God to breathe and work within us.

As I watched the athletes flood into the stadium last night I thought of Paul's words:

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 (The Message)

Are you giving it all you've got? Yesterday we looked at the discipline of prayer and this week we will take it a little further. My challenge for you today is to think through the four types of prayer we discussed and begin to spend some time in each area. If you missed the message you can listen to it on our "podcast" page and the four prayers are listed on our home page.

Start with conversational prayer throughout this day. As you go about living and being remember that God really does care for you and he longs for us to talk to Him. Stop right now, thank Him for his love and spend the day in constant communion with Him. More to come tomorrow!