“THE CROWN THE LORD HAS PROMISED»
“When he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised to those who love Him“ (James 1:12).
ON AUGUST 6, 2012, the Dominican Republic stood still for 47.63 seconds. What event managed to make almost ten million Dominicans hold their breath? There is only one answer: Félix Sánchez’s 400-meter hurdle race in the London Olympic Games.
In 2004, Sánchez became the first Dominican to be awarded an Olympic gold medal after winning the 400-meter hurdles. By 2012, eight years had passed since that feat. Sánchez had come in twenty-second place in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and arrived in London as the oldest competitor in that discipline. “Nobody has ever won a race of this kind at the age of thirty-four,” said a commentator.
When the starting shot was fired, all the competitors started running toward the finish line as fast as their legs would carry them. After 47 seconds of fierce competition, and great suspense for the spectators, Félix “Super Sánchez” won and “became the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal in a hurdle race.»*
Very few of us might be up for the challenge of an Olympic competition, but we all have a race before us. Some run after money, success, health, fame .. . However, there is a much more important race than these, or even an Olympic race: the race of salvation. And what I like most about that race is that everyone, men and women, youth and elderly, all have the chance to win!
The apostle Paul says, «Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 25).
Yes, the race to the kingdom of heaven requires determination and courage from us, but we are not to run as if we were to lose—we are to run knowing that we will obtain the victory. Félix Sánchez is unable to win the eternal reward, and so are we, but if we make Jesus the focal point of our lives, we will receive «the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him» (James 1:12).
“Associated Press, «El eterno Félix Sánchez gana el oro en los 400 con vallas» [The eternal Félix Sánchez wins gold in the 400 meter hurdle race], el universal.com.co (August ó, 2012).
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Avineyda Hernandez