Olympic Gold

The Olympics have begun! Here we are on 8-8-08 and everyone's making a fuss of these incredibly lucky numbers as the Chinese believe. The number 8 in Mandarin sounds similar to other Chinese words that mean "wealth" and "prosper". The number is believed to hold so much luck or power that the casinos are full of people hoping to cash in on this myth. Because of the supposed auspiciousness of certain numbers, some people will often choose, attempt to obtain, or pay large sums of money for numbers that are considered to be lucky for their phone numbers, street addresses, driver's license number, vehicle license plate number, bank account number, etc. The telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for $270,723 USD in Chengdu, China. A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for 1.12 million. Wow! Some people are willing to believe anything or do anything to obtain wealth.

Our Olympic athletes are doing everything they can to win the gold medal at this year's Olympic games. They put their heart, soul, and mind into their sport as they live, breath, and revolve around their training schedules and routine.

The Bible has a bit of a different perspective on wealth, success, and gold, however. Philippians 3: 13-14 reads, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." There's nothing wrong with wealth, prosperity, success, or gold medals. However, Paul reminds us that as a Christian, our prize is in the call of Jesus on our lives. Are you pressing on toward the call Jesus has put on your life? Are you going for the gold? Make this your priority today!