I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
I was fascinated at the players’ reactions during the hockey Olympic medal ceremony in Salt lake City. Such ceremonies for hockey are a bit different from those for other sports, because, unlike individual events, entire teams can’t be placed on the podium. Instead, the players line up and have the officials go down the line with flowers and medals, and for the women’s team, kisses. The jubilant Canadian players waved and cheered, holding their gold medals high as they laughed and shouted. The silver medalists, the Americans, looked like they were attending a funeral. Some wiped tears away and all sported long faces as they felt the sting of their final 3-2 loss (you don’t win silver, you lose gold) to the Canadians. But there was another team that filed in for that ceremony, the team from Sweden. They appeared to be as joyous as the Canadians. And well might they be happy! They arrived at the games with no expectations for a medal, and they took home the bronze! They knew they could never match the level of the North American teams, but they tried their best. They put their best efforts into it, and they were Olympic medalists. Christians should be like that.
Like the Swedish hockey team, you and I can never be the very best in our service for our Lord. We can’t preach like Peter, evangelize like Paul, pray like Elijah, or perform to the gold medal standard. But we should be willing to accept that, and like the Swedish team, simply do our best. If our abilities are mediocre, our efforts don’t have to be. How happy those women were that they had done their best. Those medals made all their efforts worthwhile. The lack of hope for gold or silver didn’t keep them from pursuing bronze. Think about it, if the Lord Jesus were to place a bronze medal about your neck for faithful service, would you be happy?
Our text tells us that the apostle was willing to press toward (strive for) the prize. The Lord Jesus has plenty of prizes to hand out; wouldn’t you like to have one too? There is a joyous awards ceremony coming. – Jim MacIntosh