The Serpent

Here's something I'm thinking about recently. Paul teaches

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, 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 Corinthians 9:24-27

and the author of Hebrews writes

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every hindrance, and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
-- Hebrews 12:1-3

What surprises me most recently is not the scripture itself - it's consistent with my (mental) understanding of the gospel. But I am caught up by my reaction to it. I think to myself "did God actually say 'only one'? Surely I don't need to aim to be the best. God is just setting the bar higher so that when I fall short, I'm still good enough."

And then I recall the words of the serpent to Eve,

He said to the woman, "Did God actually say 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not each of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
-- Genesis 3:1-5

Indeed, God meant every word of what He said in the garden, as surely as He means when He says

"Be ye perfect, as I am perfect."
-- Matthew 5:48

This is something to be taken seriously. I've never been a strong athlete (and I suspect Paul wasn't either). I heard recently of a study that showed that in high school students, athletic involvement was a significantly better predictor of sexual abstinence than was church involvement. Their goal - this "perishable wreath" is certainly more obviously visible and immediate. But our goal - the "imperishable wreath" is far more valuable, and far more difficult to obtain. Indeed, only one man has obtained it. And I'm called to follow Him, with everything that it entails, including striving honestly for perfection.