Running the Race like the Scot threw the Discus

There is an old story about a nineteenth-century Discus thrower that goes something like this:

A young man who lived in a Scottish village in the nineteenth-century wanted to be a star athlete.  He knew that he was athletic and strong, but because he wasn't a great runner, he needed a different event.  This was well before internet or even television, but after reading a local newspaper's report of an English track and field event, the man decided that he would become a discus thrower.

Because the man lived in a remote rural village, finding a discus was not an easy thing; in fact, it was impossible.  To remedy the situation, the young man, using a a description from a book, built himself a discus.  However, the young man misinterpreted the disc description: he thought that the disc was made completely of iron, whereas the competition discs were made of wood with an iron rim.

The Scot marked the record distance on the far end of the field and for over a year practiced throwing his all-iron disc until he could regularly throw beyond the record.  The man traveled to England for his first competition against some of the world's best throwers.  Yet, we the officials handed him the wooden disc for his first throw, he threw it with ease, setting long-standing records in the process.  It was the added burden during training that helped him succeed.

Both Paul and James speak of the necessity of persevering under weight and pressure (Rom. 5:1-5; James 1:2-4).  The idea is that endurance requires an attitude.  The discus champion above was focused, intent on becoming the best.  And, although he did not know that he was training with a discus that was far-heavier than it needed to be, it was in fact the added weight that made him so good.  

Similarly, if we are intentional in our pursuit of God and spiritual growth, we should take the same mind as the discus thrower: studying and loving beyond what is necessary so that we grow.  Needless to say, the reality of this boils down to a single, but essential word, work.

Consider the words of Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27)."