Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

This week’s posts are inspired by the Olympics. As I have watched them, I have thought of some spiritual parallels we can explore.

Our first parallel is that it’s a rare privilege to be chosen to represent the Kingdom we belong to.

Today’s scripture, 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT) reminds us…
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Consider…
10,500 athletes are competing 32 sports and 329 events over 11 days in this year’s Summer Olympics, hosted by Paris France. That seems like a lot of athletes until you consider the world’s population is 8.1 Billion people.

Even if we narrow the population to eligible athletes, we see the odds are very small. This was illustrated in an article written by Paige Walters Biskaduros. She wrote…

Breaking Down the Odds

Different sports have varying levels of difficulty for making the Olympic team. For instance, in track and field, up to three individual athletes per event can represent their country. In swimming, the top two athletes from each event qualify. The upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics will see 1,810 athletes in track and field and 852 swimmers competing.

Taking the United States as an example, with its population of 340 million, about 340,000 members are part of USA Swimming. Only 0.5% of these members, or 1 in 200, will qualify for the US Olympic Team Trials in swimming. Of those who qualify for the Trials, only 52 swimmers (26 men and 26 women) will make the Olympic team, meaning just 3% of those at the Trials will compete in the Olympics. This makes the odds of making the US Olympic swimming team roughly 1 in 15 million.

As I read the article, I could hear Jesus saying…
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” – Matthew 22:14 NLT

I don’t think we always fully appreciate the rare privilege we have to represent the King of Kings and His Kingdom here on earth.

Just like the rare Olympic athletes, we are chosen to represent the kingdom we belong to. That’s why just two verses after today’s scripture Peter wrote…
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. – 1 Peter 2:11‭-‬12 NLT

This gives us sub-parallel one for today, which is remembering the rare privilege we have to be called and chosen to represent God. And with that, we must never forget that at all times we are representing God.

I saw additional examples of representing where we’re from reiterated in the competitions and award ceremonies.

First, I noticed each individual athlete wears and competes in a team uniform. When people see you, who’s uniform do they see? Do you even know that God has a team uniform? Colossians 3:12‭-‬14 (NLT) explains…
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Which brings us to sub-parallel point number two, which is, we must suit up when representing the King and His Kingdom.

In addition to seeing uniform representation in the competitions, I also heard it with each competition winner. You see the national anthem of the country, whose athlete(s) wins the gold is played at the award ceremony.

I can only imagine that every time we have a victory over sin, or win another soul for Him, God’s anthem is playing in Heaven. I can hear God’s infinity speakers booming Revelation 19:1, with Stephen Hurd’s voice singing…

Hallelujah, salvation and glory
Honor and power unto the Lord our God
For the Lord our God is mighty
Yes, the Lord our God is omnipotent
The Lord our God, He is wonderful

Hallelujah, salvation and glory
Honor and power unto the Lord our God
For the Lord our God is mighty
Yes, the Lord our God is omnipotent
The Lord our God, He is wonderful

All praises be to the King of kings
And the Lord our God
He is wonderful
Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, He is wonderful

This gives us sub-parallel point number three, which is that we remember that everytime we ‘win, win, win’ all glory goes to Him, Him, Him!

Jesus made this point in Matthew 5:16 (NLT) when He said…
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

If God’s not getting the glory from your story, you don’t have the true victory.

Recapping today’s parallels we see…

• We must always remember the rare privilege we have to be called and chosen to represent the King of Kings
• We must suit up in the Kingdom uniform when representing the King.
• Every time we win, all glory must go to Him

I almost forgot the most important point, which is you must be a citizen of the kingdom you represent. That means you can’t represent the King of Kings if you’re not a citizen of His Kingdom.

So the first question we each must answer is where’s our citizenship?

Today’s song is…
Reppin’ The Kingdom

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)