What can we learn from the dedication of a serious skier?

By Cheryl Paulsen

Have you ever met a serious skier? If you have, you know that skiing is important in his life. He sets aside other fun activities to make time for skiing. You could ask him about skiing in the summer when there is almost no snow in the mountains, and he would give you an enthusiastic response. In the winter, he is not necessarily hindered because it’s a little too cold, or it’s snowing, or the snow isn’t just perfect. He’s a serious skier.

In some ways, Christianity is similar—it goes beyond fun. My husband and I spent nearly ten years teaching high school Sunday school students. We put effort into trying to find methods that would interest our students in being serious Christians. We tried to plan fun activities that would let them know you can be a Christian and have a good time.

However, when you get right down to the basics, the Gospel is not about fun or entertainment. Serving God is serious business and to be successful at it, we will need to put our all into it. We will not be able to just sit idly by and ask someone to entertain us.

If you asked a serious skier if skiing is fun, he’d give you an enthusiastic, “Yes!” But I don’t think it looks particularly fun. It looks like work to me—exercise to get in shape and a physical workout when you ski. I think it could be cold and wet.

Experiencing the thrill

However, a serious skier has experienced the thrill. He has seen the view from the top of the mountain on a clear day. He knows the thrill of flying through the air off a jump. He has felt the excitement of swishing down the mountainside, or the satisfaction in conquering a difficult run.

If you were to ask a serious, experienced Christian if serving God is fun, he might say, “Not necessarily fun, but it’s the greatest thrill of my life.” Looking on, you might not see the thrilling part of serving God. You might only see that discipline is needed, and that laying down your will is necessary. It doesn’t look entertaining.

Yet, the serious Christian has experienced the thrill. He has a spiritual view of Heaven. He’s prayed about difficult circumstances and knows the excitement of seeing God step in and make the impossible happen. He knows the peace that comes from having committed his life fully to God and has the assurance that everything which happens to him is for his good.

I can go to the ski lodge and look out the window at the skiers. I can try hard to imagine what it must feel like to hear the wind whistle past my head as I fly down a slope. I can discern that there would be some thrill. I can even be entertained by watching them for a while. But the truth is, I am not willing to do what it takes to participate.

It might be possible to be like that in regard to serving God. We can look at others who enjoy serving God. We can try to imagine what it must be like and see that there could be some thrill. We might even be entertained for a while by going to church or church-related activities. But we’ll never know the real thrill unless we do what it takes to participate.

Discipline is needed

In the time of Paul the Apostle, athletics were an important part of the Roman and Greek cultures. Paul said, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). He was comparing the Christian life with a race and the discipline needed to succeed in it.

Sometimes a serious skier has an accident. He may be injured and acquire some permanent scars. In the same way, a serious Christian may encounter bumps in his spiritual life. He may experience situations that knock him off his feet and make him wonder which way is up. But if he has touched God, if he has felt the thrill and knows the joy, those situations will only make him cling more tightly to God.

Serving God will stretch you farther than you thought you could be stretched. It will challenge you more than any ski slope. It won’t necessarily give you easy entertainment, but it will give you the thrill of a lifetime . . . and a hope for eternity. Try it!