Why do you want to be normal?

The beginning of the 2024 Olympics caused me to think about that.  To get to the level of an Olympic athlete, one must not be normal.  It takes far more dedication than “normal” people are willing to give.

And some of those athletes go even further.

Take the high jump as an example.  They used to use sand for the landing pad, so athletes had to land on their feet.  Then they introduced foam landing pads, and things changed.  Athletes could focus on the jump and not how they would land.

Athletes ran toward the pole, jumped (head-first) over the pole, and landed on the mat.  Then it changed in the 1968 Olympics.

Dick Fosbury (from Oregon) decided to use physics to help him.  Instead of running in a straight line toward the pole, he ran in a curved line that enabled him to reach the pole at a sharp angle.  It also enabled him to twist his body over to clear the pole back-first, and that increased his form and thrust.

Fosbury broke the world record that year and was the first American to win it in twelve years.  It also transformed the high jump forever.

Today, most jumpers use the same technique that Fosbury did.  In fact, it is called the Fosbury Flop.

Fosbury was not normal (in comparison to the average person).  He also was not normal (in comparison to the athletes that had come before him).  He figured out how to do what h wanted to do in a better way than everyone else did.

Jesus was not considered “normal” by those who mt Him.  That is what bugged the religious leaders of His day.  He did not fit the box they had created for the Messiah.  He did not do what they wanted Him to do.

And I am so grateful that Jesus did not try to fit into their expectations.  Because He did what needed to be done (even if it was not expected at the time), I am able to have salvation.  You are able to have it too if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.

Normal is not always the best thing to be.  You can see how messy life is because so many are trying to be normal.

Do not be normal.  Do what must be done.

There is a classic book on how to live the kind of life I’m talking about…