"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Understanding God's law
You bless everyone who lives right and obeys your law. Ps 119:1It is easy for us to misunderstand what the Psalmist is saying. A requirement that we obey God's law in order to obtain God's blessing sounds quite different from the salvation by grace that we experience as Christians. Before we can apply the Psalm to the world of sport, we need to understand it.
As Graham Cray reminds us, "God is not a lord who watches us like a hawk, to see if we step out of line. He longs for us to enjoy freedom and blessing." If we see God's law as principles for living more than rules to be obeyed, we are on the right track.
The meaning of the law becomes clearer when we look at some of the words used of it. Of course it depends on what language and translation you are using but the law is presented in this Psalm in a number of concepts: Law, word, sayings, ordinances, commandments, precepts, testimony, path, way.
To see God's word as a path thought a difficult terrain gives us a completely different picture of God compared to an experience with a policeman giving us a ticket for driving faster than the speed limit! God's word is there to help us live life to the full - not to stop us from having fun.
There is a scene in the film Chariots of Fire (about Eric Liddell the Olympic 400 metres champion 1924) when a church leader is about to stop a group of boys having fun on a Sunday. Eric stops him and says, "You don't want them to grow up thinking God is a spoilsport".