Hansle Parchment is competing in this year’s Summer Olympics representing Jamaica. At 34, he is one of the oldest athletes participating and will be running in the 110 meter hurdles. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics but he is in Paris this week to defend the gold he earned in Tokyo.
Only he almost didn’t. At the last Olympics, Hansle had boarded a bus to travel to the semifinals for his event. But it was the wrong bus. He was actually heading in the opposite direction and by the time he discovered his error, he had little hope of ever making it to the stadium to qualify for this once-every-four year opportunity. It looked like his expectations of repeating Olympic gold were over.
In a desperate attempt to make the field, he asked an Olympic volunteer named Trijana for help. With a generous heart, she gave him money to take a taxi to where he needed to be and he made it, but barely. After hastily registering and warming up, he not only qualified for the final, he went on to defeat favorite, Grant Holloway, of the USA for the gold medal.
According to Olympics.com, Parchment later found this gracious woman and returned the money he had borrowed, showed her his gold medal and gave her a Jamaican shirt. His government also sought to reward her by offering to fly her to the Caribbean Island for a visit. Her small act of kindness not only blessed Hansle but ended up benefiting her as well even though she had no idea at the time of the outcomes of her simple gesture.
This story reminds us to look for opportunities to bless others and help them in whatever ways we can. We may not be in Paris for the Olympics, but there are plenty of people around us every day who need a taxi fare, a word of encouragement, or a square meal. These may not be much to us, but they could make all the difference in the world to the other person. In addition, God is able to credit to our accounts whatever these deeds might have cost us in terms of time and money and He repays with the best interest.
But there’s another important lesson to learn from this. Plenty of people have already boarded the wrong bus and are headed away from heaven. They have jumped on one that says “Good Works” or “Baptism” or “Parents’ Religion” little realizing that none of these will deliver them to the Pearly Gates. Though Christians should be baptized, do good works, and follow the Christian examples of family members, these well-intentioned acts don’t run the bus route to everlasting glory.
There’s only one way to spend eternity in God’s presence and that’s by confessing and repenting of sins and asking Jesus to save us through His sacrifice on the cross. We must jump off the bus we’re on and flag down our Taxi Driver who has been waiting and watching for us to do exactly that. Thankfully, He’s already paid our full fare with His own blood and is eager for us to hop in so He can take us in the right direction whenever we realize our error and sincerely want to change.
In John 14:6 Jesus assures us that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That means that all other busses are headed in the wrong direction no matter how nice the drivers might be or how beautifully the busses are painted. Jesus is the only way to get to the destination where we will not earn gold medals, but walk on golden streets. If you never have, switch busses today and invite Jesus to get you to where you really want to go. Olympic Blessings, George