August 22, 2016–Devotions from Rio Olympics
Boxing

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Boxing is one of the Olympic sports with a long history in Olympic competitions. There have been many boxers who used their success in the Olympics to launch themselves on to long boxing careers: boxers like Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Wladimir Klitschko, Roy Jones Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinx, Leon Spinks, and Lennox Lewis. Olympic boxing is great to watch because it often is fast, spirited, exciting…..and short. There are only so many rounds, less than five I believe, and many of these matches never get to the third round. I find it interesting that Paul would use this sport to talk about his faith. Boxing was popular in the Greek arena of sport. These boxers did not wear big gloves like they do today. Instead they wore what looks like a large glove, and around their knuckles they wore a metal piece called a “Caestus” that would inflict extremely dangerous wounds.

When we realize that Paul experienced his own injuries throughout his ministry travels, and somewhere along the line experienced some sort of “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7), it is no wonder that Paul would use the image of a “boxer beating the air” as a counter-image to his ministry – to hit the air is not to have a chance to inflict any injury. Paul instead knew that to fight through the suffering now, to “fight the good fight and finish the race”, meant to persevere to the end – to live the life of faith no matter the punishment, the set backs, the conflicts and the pressures.

My friends, G-d is not asking us, nor is there any reason to inflict punishment on ourselves for our faith. But, there are ways to deny our allegiance with culture now and put Christ first. When we do this, we are not boxing as if beating the air, we are truly embracing the idea of living the Christ-like life. We have no idea how many rounds G-d may give us in this life, so let us all persevere to the end, for the end may be sooner than we imagine.

Pastor Dave