11 Mar, 2010
Cutting In
CUTTING IN
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified in the 500-meter short track speedskating final, apparently for causing a crash in the last turn.
Ohno crossed the finish line second behind Canada's Charles Hamelin, whose momentum spun him into the middle of the ice as the race ended.
Ohno was in last place when he tried to go inside of Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay to move up on the final turn. The American's right leg appeared to hit Tremblay and sent him crashing into the padding.
South Korea's Sung Si-bak also went down, although it appeared he lost his balance.
After several minutes of discussion, during which Ohno skated calmly around the ice, the referees DQ'd him. He threw up his arms as if to say, "What can you do?" and smiled before leaving.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. www.espn.com
Galatians 5:7
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
What does today's story and God's Story Scripture say about getting "cut in" on?
I know, you are probably thinking, not another Olympic story in the daily bide. Two reasons I take you back to the Vancouver Olympic games, first, I keep hearing people say how much they miss watching it every night and second, the Olympics helped this verse in Galatians come alive for me recently.
I was reading it and the phrase “cut in on you” jumped out. I could picture the Olympic short track skating races I had been watching. Multiple times I saw racers “cut in on” each other to better position themselves and pull ahead. A certain degree of cutting in is expected in the sport, but go too far, as Apollo Ohno and others found out and you can be disqualified.
Close your eyes and picture one of those short track races you watched in the Olympics. Got the image? Now imagine one or more of the skaters as they cut in to the inside of the track. As they do it, they cut off someone who was up until then skating a good race. The act of cutting in has at least slowed down the other racer if not totally thrown them off their pace all together. The act of being cut in on has distracted them and ended their race.
This act of becoming distracted and losing the race is what Paul is referring to in Galatians 5. He is asking the church in Galatia how they could have let themselves be “cut in on” and thrown off pace and kept from following Jesus.
Who do you think might be cutting in on us as we seek to stay on track with Jesus?
What does today's story & God's Story say about my story?
Picture your own race of being a follower of Christ. You are running a good race and then out of nowhere someone or something cuts in your lane and suddenly you are derailed.
Who are the people or things that cut in on you and keep you from obedience to God? Its easy to see that Satan could cut in on you, but what other more subtle ways are you thrown off course?
Perhaps friends that want you to do stuff you know Jesus doesn’t want for you. Maybe a behavior that you can’t let go of. Maybe a temptation or desire that is so strong you can be running well and suddenly an opportunity cuts in and you stop following Jesus and start following that temptation.
Take a minute and think about what you allow to cut in and get your eyes off Jesus. Ask God to help you stay focused and on pace with Him.
How can we connect today's story, God's Story, and my story to our friends story?
• Even though the Olympics are over, talk about the speed skating races you saw with your friends. Explain how that picture of cutting in as described in Galatians is more understandable to you now since watching the Olympics.
• Once you identify what or who it is that “cuts in” on you and keeps you from following Jesus, share it with a friend. Tell them how you hope to be less distracted. Ask your friend to watch and remind you of this when you need it. Your friend will be impacted by you admitting that you aren’t perfect and that you need Jesus everyday.
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