Being Disciplined

Most people, including many Christians, are.....slaves to their bodies. Their bodies tell their minds what to do. Their bodies decide when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat, when to sleep and get up, and so on. An athlete cannot allow that. He follows the training rules, not his body. He runs when he would rather be resting, he eats a balanced meal when he would rather have a chocolate sundae, he goes to bed when he would rather stay up, and he gets up early to train when he would rather stay in bed. An athlete leads his body; he does not follow it. It is his slave, not the other way around.

- John Macarthur

 

 

 

The picture above is of Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis. Though she is an olympic gold medallist now, in order to focus on her discipline there were many other things she had to leave behind. This is a quote from a telegraph feature on her.

 

 

There were sacrifices – she could not go to many parties and had little free time – but she has no regrets about the way she spent her teenage years. "I made so many great friends at school who are still close friends, and I don’t think I missed out on that much." She went on to study psychology at the University of Sheffield.

 

In her second year, 2006, she competed in the Commonwealth Games in Australia, where she won bronze with a personal best score of 6,269 points (which are awarded according to the athlete’s time or distance in each event). 'I was thinking, shall I take all my books or leave them? I left them, because I had to focus on athletics'.

Sometimes the Christian life is compared to a race, in which many run but one recieves the prize. The participants have to take on the mind of an athlete in training and self discipline to achieve the goal (or crown) which signifies eternal life.

Sometimes the Christian is compared to a boxer aiming to knock out his opponent. The participant fights with vision and purpose, not punching all over the place but with passion and purpose. The aim is to recieve the prize.

 

From the time when one international games is over, after a short rest time the athletes are back to training for the next one. To be an effective and mature Christian, I must be involved in self discipline as an athlete would be. I must allow my soul, mind and body to be trained as an athlete would do. I must move with purpose and vision as a boxer would do. I must focus on the goal, so that after I have brought others into the race, I myself am not disqualified or left lagging behind.

Mr John MacArthur, I see your quote and am determined to take you up on your challenge- to be self disciplined.

(Blog inspired by 1 Corinthians 9:24-27)