Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
May 2, 2012

“Tour de Life”
“You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!’” – Proverbs 5:12

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than 3,600 kilometers (2,200 mi) and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day wears a yellow jersey. The course changes every year, but the race has always finished in Paris. Since 1975, the climax of the final stage has been along the Champs-Elysees.
The “Tour de France” has been called one of the most grueling of all sporting events. The one who has been defined by it is American Lance Armstrong who has won it a record seven consecutive times. These victories were achieved after he overcame and survived a bout with testicular cancer. He contributed his victories in cycling to not his athletic ability but his disciplines in fighting cancer. He is quoted as saying, “Do the small things first…the rest will follow.”
As much as many of us do not like discipline, whether it is maintaining self-discipline or following the disciplines of others, especially God’s disciplines—in the end we realize the benefits that exist from it. The key is not waiting until it is too late to find discipline. Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No steam or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.”
Emerson underscored two truths here. First, some things can be controlled by external forces—horses, steam engines, and giant rivers, for example. Each of these has intrinsic power, but when controlled by external forces, impressive results can be achieved. Race horses can be trained to run at amazing speeds in a one-and-and-eighth-mile race. Steam engines can generate incredible thrust when built into giant locomotives. And uncontrolled rivers can be forced through huge turbines that produce mega electrical power. Left to do their own thing, each of these would be mere footnotes in the pages of history. Second, Emerson said that in humans, internal controls are the only controls that last. External controls (by parents and others in authority) may be able to force certain types of behavior in children. But such behavioral modification will be short-lived. On the other hand, self-control learned through instruction and discipline will last. Emerson concluded, “No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” And those results come through instruction that is internally applied.
Although he didn’t follow the advice he gave to others, King Solomon understood this principle of life. Going back if I could to the previous chapter we see Solomon saying these words: “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body” (Proverbs 4:20-22). Solomon was saying, “Embrace these truths—they will change your life!” An interesting side note: Armstrong had raced in the Tour de France five times prior to his bout with cancer and although was considered to be the top American cyclist, failed to finish in the top ten in any of those races. Although he was in very good physical condition he believes he was not in his top condition. Do not wait to be disciplined! All of us can become spiritually disciplined as we follow these guidelines! Are these disciplines painful? Of course. All meaningful accomplishments are. But as Lance Armstrong said about winning the Tour de France, “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”
Pastor J. T. Carnell