Usain Bolt is a tremendous athlete and arguably the best sprinter to ever step foot on the track. As the Olympics come to an end, no one can forget his performance this year. He won the Olympic 100 meter, 200 meter, and 4X100 relay. Not to mention he became the first athlete to repeat as double Olympic sprint champion fulfilling quite a remarkable task as a Jamaican superstar.
THE SPORTS DILEMNA
Usain Bolt is an athlete worthy of honor for his tremendous accomplishments. He could come back and win for the next two Olympics as well as every other race he runs. But I want to propose a question: when all is said and done and he puts down his cleats at the end of his career will he ultimately feel fulfilled? This is not to say that what he is doing isn’t admirable, worthy of praise, or wrong in any way, it is simply to ask will Usain Bolt achieving all of his goals ever provide ultimate satisfaction?
You see, every athlete in the world goes through a never-ending cycle. A team wins the World Cup, they get a parade, celebrate a little, and are back to practicing. A team wins the Super Bowl, and the very next week they are thinking about the first team they are playing the next season. Tom Brady in an interview on ‘60 Minutes’ said,
Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, ‘God, it’s got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be”
When asked, “What’s the answer?” by Steve Kroft he said,
I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find”
NOT JUST SPORTS, ALL OF LIFE
Tom Brady was content that he won the Super Bowl, but he still felt empty. There was still something deep in his soul that wasn’t being satisfied, there was something that three Super Bowl championships couldn’t fulfill. I want to propose that the same unfulfilled longing proves true for all people everywhere. Shia LaBeaouf, at age 25 as a multimillionaire said,
Sometimes I feel like I’m living a meaningless life, and I get frightened. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole.”
Some think that if they would only win the lottery and be rich like Shia LaBeaouf then all there problems would be solved. Others think that if they won the Super Bowl after a lifetime of playing football to achieve that goal that they would be satisfied. We all have that thing that we tell ourselves, “if only I had that, then I would be happy.” We place worth and get worth from things in this world that we really know won’t satisfy. Everyone has his or her idol, you just have to be honest and ask yourself what that idol is? But you see, none of these will ever satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart. And deep down we know it.
WHAT IS ENOUGH THEN?
Everyone in the world is crying out desperately for hope, for something that can truly satisfy, for something that can please the deepest longing of his or her hearts. It is in our very nature as the Bible says,
He (God) has put eternity into man’s heart”- Ecclesiastes 3:11
You see, it was God himself who put that deep longing that we all have in us. Why? So that we could feel our need for him. So we could look to this world and see that it isn’t satisfying and that we were created for worshipping and enjoying him forever, which brings us eternal fulfillment. C.S. Lewis puts it best when he says
If we find in ourselves a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most plausible explanation is that we were made for another world”
This article was not meant to be bad news about how there is nothing in this life that can satisfy us so we are a hopeless people, it is written to bring good news. The good news of Jesus Christ! The news that the Father sent Jesus to live the perfect sinless life we could never live, die the death we deserved, take the wrath of God that we deserved for our sins, and raise from the dead to assure the finished work that pardons sins and reconciles us sinners to himself. So that when we receive this good news by faith we can now have peace with God, be reconciled with God, and be in a restored relationship with God. The good news is God himself!
You see our biggest need in life isn’t money, sex, power or fame; it is Jesus Christ himself, the Savior and lover of our souls. So turn to him, and stop chasing empty cisterns that won’t hold water. Turn to the river of life who will give you abundant life in Christ where you can glorify and enjoy your creator forever.
