“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV)

You’ve probably never heard the name Miguel Duran Navie, but he is a Spanish swimmer who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Unfortunately, he didn’t medal. Even worse, he was disqualified before the event took place. Just before the gun that signals the race to begin, Navia dove into the water for the preliminary heat in the 400m freestyle. He was automatically disqualified. As one news site described it, his Olympic dreams were dashed.

How sad it would be to work your entire life to achieve one goal, only to be disqualified. Life is a marathon with twists and turns, some more subtle than others, that we need to traverse. Sometimes we’ll trip and skin our knees, but we can rise and finish the race. Unlike Olympic races, where the field is meticulously prepared and cleared of all unintended obstacles, our race in life seems to be meticulously prepared to create barriers. The assailant’s name is “The Prince of THIS World”, A.K.A. Satan.

His goal is to do more than “trip us up” but to disqualify us from the race. He tries to get us to believe false doctrines, to listen to gospels from “other angels”, and even to think that we are gods. Paul pointed to the only thing to safeguard us from the devil’s wiles. Discipline! Just as an Olympian prepares every day for years leading up to one moment, we too must prepare our minds for action, for that moment when Satan decides to tempt us. In doing this, the Bereans were praised in Acts 17:11 because they prepared themselves by searching the scriptures daily to determine whether these things were so. Where else could we go for guidance in life than the God inspired Bible? In the scriptures, we find the truth that is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17) In concert with all of this, we set our sights first on the kingdom of God! (Matthew 6:33)

We won’t let Satan tempt us by firing the race gun too early because we will have our sights set on our true judge, God.

NOTE: Navie was later allowed to compete in the 400m freestyle due to a “premature gunshot noise coming from the crowd”, almost as though someone was trying to draw him offside…sound familiar?