Being an athlete, I always love watching the Olympics. The single-mindedness that it takes to compete on that level is admirable. I remember watching the opening ceremonies with a friend who made the United States Olympic team as a swimmer in 1980 after an entire childhood of two-a-day practices, only to have that dream snatched away by President Jimmy Carter’s boycott. It was a political statement against the Soviet Union’s war with Afghanistan. The United States tried a different approach when Adolf Hitler’s Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The crowning moment was Jesse Owens and his four gold medals, defeating the blonde-haired, blue-eyed athletes of Hitler’s perceived superior race! The tear-stained face of my friend watching the ceremonies certainly demonstrated to me how painful that event remained for him many years later, as he saw the athletes enjoying a feeling he would never know.
Sadly, on the first day of competition in the current Olympics, a luge competitor from Georgia named Nodar Kumaritashvili died on a training run. Luge takes more guts than almost any other sport, in my opinion. Sliders reach a speed approaching 100 M.P.H. lying on their backs with their feet leading the way down the icy track. They control the small metal sleds with their calves, and in that tucked position, have to be at least partially blind.
It made me think of the slippery slope of life that we all find ourselves on. Habitual sin is or has been a part of each of our lives. Illegal drugs are a perfect example. Taking drugs rarely is a one-time event in the life of a user. In the desire to re-create that high, or that removal from the drudgery of daily life, the user finds himself using more of the drug or a stronger drug. He continues down the slippery slope, with his body in jeopardy, as well as every relationship. Even knowing that the behavior is wrong, each time becomes easier. The next fix becomes the focal point of life, as everything else pales in comparison. That slope leads to death, though most people sliding down that icy hill have all the best hopes of an easy landing and another ride. Yet, it doesn’t have to be drug use to create that effect in our lives. All sin leads to the same place, and that place is judgment from the Lord.
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them. Deuteronomy 32:35
God knows our motives better than we do and understands the attraction that sin has in our lives. All the way down that slippery slope, He is there, offering a hand of support and another path. That path leads to Him and is on solid ground.
37You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip
Samuel 22:37
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand, or an icy slope. When you are standing on the Cornerstone, your foundation will be solid, not slippery!
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