My Manna

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13)

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col 3:16)

Joseph Schooling from Singapore won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics 100m butterfly race.

It was the first Olympic gold medal for the small island nation.  A historic win.

However, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Schooling failed to defend his Olympic title.  To add insult to injury, he finished last in the preliminary heats.

It was said that his defeat did not come as a surprise.  There were signs before the Olympics that he could not win this time.

Why was he unable to repeat his performance in Tokyo?  His defeat holds lessons for Olympics sports as well as for Christians.

For one, he admitted that he felt out of love with swimming after the 2016 Olympics.

He trained hard for the 2016 Olympics, while he was at the University of Texas doing his undergraduate studies. He had a good coach and fellow swimmers who coaxed one another to perform better.

After he graduated, he returned to Singapore.  There was no ecosystem there to shape and prepare him for the 2020 Olympics.

There was less regular competition at the top level.  He lost the training momentum.  There was no coach who could motivate him or even whip him into shape if he slackens.

Despite his poor performance, Schooling received an outpouring of support from Singaporeans, including from the Singapore President.  He had done Singapore proud at one time.  He has done what he could do.  We wish him future success.

What can Christians learn from this episode?

The ecosystem that helped keep Schooling in top form in order to win the gold medal in 2016 was absent during his preparation for the 2020 Olympics.

For Christians, we have another form of ecosystem.  It is called fellowship.

The fellowship of believers:

• Helps to keep us in the love of God.
• Spurs us on in our life race.
• Helps to keep us “hot” for Christ.
• Encourages us to look to Jesus in times of difficulties.
• Motivates us to grow and go for the Lord.

Fellowship with other Christians is vital to stay spiritually healthy.  Stay in this spiritual ecosystem of fellowship to help you win the race of life.

(MT)