Psalm 37:23-24 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way....Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand."

I am not much of a sports' person, but one thing I do enjoy watching is Figure Skating. When the last Olympic games were on, our Canadian Champion pair skaters did a superb performance, but as I recall, at the end they stumbled and fell. I was impressed by the fact that they didn't just sit there on the ice bemoaning the tragedy. They got up, laughed it off and left the ice, triumphant…Champions don't stay on the ice. They get up and keep on going, even though they are aware that because of a fall they may not achieve what they set out to achieve. Champions are always ready to try again. And try again, these pair skaters did, and came away with the Gold medal.

I find it fascinating to listen to reporters interviewing the athletes after each performance. The response of the athlete is often very revealing as to his/her character. One of my favorite male skaters is Canada's Elvis Stjoiko. He has many "wins" to his credit, but I remember at a World's Championship competition, in Vancouver, B.C., he skated possibly one of his worst skates ever. He fell several times and made other errors. For a year he had been recovering from an injury, and had been out of the race. The "World's" was the first time he had been in a competition since. But one thing I notice about Elvis is that he never makes excuses for himself. After apologizing to his fans for his failure, he simply stated to the reporter that his aim was to go out and train harder than ever. He never once used his injury for an excuse, nor the fact that that was his first competition since recovering. To me that is a great athlete.

It is not hard to be on top. It's not hard to lap up the glory for being the best. Anyone can do that. The hard thing to do is to apologize when we fail, and then determine to work hard to accomplish our goal. And that is what Elvis did. He got up and kept going. He keeps trying to win another medal. He is not giving up.

It is very difficult for a skater to get up and keep on going, once he/she has fallen. But what would happen if the skater just lay there? For one thing, he would be in the way of other performers, and someone would have to carry him off the ice. For another thing, he would lose credibility with his fans; and for a third thing, and most importantly, it would cause a great depression to fall on him, making it almost impossible for him to carry on with his career.

The Bible is full of people who fell. God has recorded these stories for our encouragement. David fell. II Samuel 12 tells the story of this fall. We all remember the story of David and Bathsheba. David coveted Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. He sent Uriah out to the hottest part of the battle, and Uriah was killed. David took Bathsheba to him, and she became his wife. Nathan the prophet, went to David and told him the story of a man who had a whole flock of sheep, but stole his neighbor's one and only sheep, to kill and put on a feast. David was angry with this man for doing such a horrible thing. Nathan pointed his finger at David and said, "You are the man. You have stolen your neighbor's wife." David's fall was great. But he got up again. He repented of his sin, and God forgave him. Read the story for yourself; and then read Psalm 51, where David pours out his heart in repentance. David did not stay "on the ice" when he fell. He got up and carried on.