100%

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. 

I always have. I mean... who doesn't?  You see the advertisements on ESPN, and you just want to get up from the couch and start training. The motivational clips, even for the silliest things (like...Wendy's?), make you want to do something important - to give your all to something. These athletes train all day, everyday FOR YEARS. They eat right ALL THE TIME. They sacrifice their time, indulgences, and sometimes even friendships in order to pursue a dream they most likely have had since childhood. There is something about this that inspires, that causes us to believe in something bigger.

Is that "something bigger," a race? A competition? A game? A gold medal? Certainly not.

Of course, I am not saying that the athletes who participate in the Olympic Games aren't admirable. I'm not saying that they're pursuits are vain. The Olympic athletes manifest for us the idea of 100%. They illustrate what it means to sacrifice for something more. They give their all in order to achieve the highest honor - the gold medal.

When Jesus called his disciples, Mark records that "immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him" (Mark 1:20).  James and John did not even question Jesus. They simply followed Him, giving up everything they had: family, security, occupations.  

Recently, my family notified me that we are moving across the country - to Wyoming. It's a crazy and weird transition, and I keep finding myself lost, caught up in figuring out where I'm going to live, where I want to be, who I want to be with, etc.  I feel like everything I've known for the majority of my life is being taken from me. While it's definitely not that drastic, and at times I can be a drama queen, it is somewhat true. But I was thinking: What if Jesus took away my family, my friends, my school, my house, my job, my hope in finding a husband? Would I be willing to give all of that up to be with Him where He wants me? 

I frequently say to Jesus, "I want to give you my all," but I haven't ever really been able to put that prayer into practice because I've never really had to sacrifice anything. Now I have been given the opportunity to do just that - trust in Him 100%. 

The Olympic Games are awesome. But Jesus is more awesome. I want to give Him my all. ALL my desires - I want them to be His. 100%.