In the recent Summer Games (2012), Kim Rhode won the gold medal in skeet shooting making her the first American to win 5 Olympic medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze) in 5 consecutive Olympic games (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012).
Here are other noticeable things about Rhode: she hit 99 out of 100 skeets setting a new Olympic record and tied the world record; and her first medal was in the 1996 Summer Games making her the youngest female gold medalist in Olympic shooting; and she was in Olympic 5 times, that’s the span of 20 years.
In an interview with the New York Times, Kim answered that she shoots anywhere from 500 to 1,000 rounds every day of the week year around. That is 3,000,000 plus shots with a shotgun. That’s 600,000 rounds per medal. When you step back and look at that number, the medals and accomplishments really are not that surprising.
I am sure other Olympic medalists, too, have invested timeless hours, energy and resources into their area of sports. How many calories have they burned and how have they rejected (sacrificed) other things to focus on their training, we can only imagine. No doubt there was a natural talent involved, but in many cases, it had to be dedication and determination.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul indicates that life is a race and it’s a race that we are all entered in and there is no exception. If you we alive, we are in it and thus, we might as well try to compete it well. We can compare with others and complain how things are not fair for us and even choose to sit the race out but it is to our own demise. Keep in mind that the starter has fired the gun, and our finish will still be recorded.
In this race, you don’t have to run faster than others, but only your best. The Bible teaches us to run it in such a noble, honorable, and faithful manner that you when you finish, you will be a winner even if you didn’t come in first place. Compete so that even if you do not win all of life, you will not be ashamed of how well you finished.
There are roughly 775,000 words in the Bible. If we read one word for every round Kim Kim practiced, we would complete the Bible every few years. These days, a person that has read through it completely just once has already distinguished themselves from the pack. How much more blessed would we be if we had read through it 5 times or a dozen times?
May we be faithful in hearing, reading, studying, memorizing and mediating the Word!