Good morning,
Billions of people are about
to lose a lot of sleep. The Summer Olympics have arrived and people
from all over the world have come together to compete for top honors in
their chosen sports. This year the competitions will be shown in real
time as well as in skillfully packaged groupings to guarantee the
greatest possible exposure to the people at home rooting for their own
athletes’ success. These events today go way back in history and were
actually well known to the writers of the New Testament. Paul refers to
these contests when he wrote to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 9:
24,25) that the most the athletes of his day could win was a prize that
would fade away, while we as God’s children are involved in contests
with eternal consequences. It seems that the challenge of honesty was a
problem then as well as now since Paul mentioned the possibility of
being disqualified even after running the race. Paul also pointed out
that it was the judge that made the decisions to award the prizes, not
the athletes who were involved in the contest.
Jesus uses this same idea
when he gave the Apostle John messages to the seven churches in Asia.
Jesus reminded these churches of the rules for living, the evil that
would disqualify them from being rewarded and the benefits of living a
godly life style. What he said to Sardis reminds me in a special way of
what we in our day are able to do through the power of our electronic
media. The whole world will be able to watch the contestants as they
compete and then celebrate their victories together even though
separated by thousands of miles. Jesus tells us that those of us who
have lived and loved and obeyed him will be allowed to walk with Jesus
in white clothing as a proof that we are worthy of the prize that we
will receive in heaven. What blows me away is that we will not just be
there in white. Jesus promises us eternal life because our names are
written in the Book of Life and then that he, Jesus our Savior, will
publicly announce before our Father God and all his heavenly angels that
we belong in his eternal family. Just think, after a life time of
challenge, disrespect, temptation and pain, we will be approved forever
to live with God and one another in perfect peace and harmony. Now
that’s a prize worth living for.
Revelation 3: 4 “Yet
there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their
clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are
worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never
erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my
Father and his angels that they are mine.
Roy Wisner
