Read
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Reflect
By now you can probably tell how much I love sports, and especially special events like the Olympic Games. I think I caught the Olympic bug when they came to Atlanta while I lived there. The atmosphere at the games is truly electric. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced anywhere else.
One of the things I love about the Olympics is the performances they inspire, even from lesser-known athletes. Where else would we root for barefoot marathoners, uncoached swimmers, fathers of sprinters, nearsighted ski jumpers or Jamaican bobsledders?
Of course, then there are the true greats, like Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She might be the greatest athlete of all time, as she was dubbed by Sports Illustrated at the end of the 20th century. Her Olympic journey started in 1984 when she captured the silver medal in the first-ever women’s Olympic heptathlon competition. Four years later in Seoul, South Korea, she won gold with a world and Olympic record of 7,291 points that still stands. Then in 1992—in fact, on August 2, 1992—she won gold again despite finishing below her marks from the previous Olympics in every event. Her total of 7,044 points would still have been a world record before her performance in Seoul. Her 1988 and 1992 totals remain the two highest heptathlon scores ever recorded, and she is the only woman to have won the Olympic heptathlon twice.
Every Olympic Games brings amazing performances from athletes in a wide variety of competitions. Like Jackie Joyner-Kersee, many of them have prepared their whole lives for one opportunity on the world’s biggest athletic stage. Thousands compete in hundreds of events, but most will go home without a medal. They will leave with the experience of having competed among the best in the world, but only a few will stand on the podium.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this very situation. He said that everyone competes, but only one runner receives the prize, so in the race we are running, we should run with the purpose and determination of someone who intends to win. That does not mean Christians are competing against one another for one available place. It means we should pursue Christ seriously rather than moving through life without focus or direction.
Paul also told us that the prize athletes pursue is perishable. In his day, they ran to win a crown of leaves, and those only lasted so long. Even the gold, silver and bronze medals won at the Olympics will not go with the winners into the next life. The prize Paul describes will never perish.
That does not mean we earn eternal life by training hard enough. Eternal life is God’s gift through Jesus Christ. Our spiritual discipline is not the price of salvation. It is our response to the salvation we have already been offered and received.
So how do we run this race well? Again, as Paul says, we train and discipline ourselves just as athletes do. An athlete in training performs the right exercises, carefully chooses what will fuel the body and prepares consistently for the competition ahead. That is our model. We need to practice the right spiritual disciplines, including worship and prayer. We need to drink deeply from the living water and feed on the Word of God so that our spiritual lives are strengthened for service to the Lord.
When you reflect on great athletic feats of the past, like Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s record-setting performances, or when you watch today’s athletes compete, remember that they reached that level through intense training and sacrifice. Following Christ deserves that same kind of purpose. We are not saved by our effort, but we should live as people who understand the value of the prize before us.
Run with focus. Run with discipline. Run with faith. And run to win.
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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
