BEING A HERO
I have been watching a few horse races lately, and God has been using
them to teach me amazing Biblical truths. He urged me to look at an article I
wrote in 2018 on the subject. Enjoy 😊
The following is a quote from the New York Post on June 9, 2018:
“Jockey Mike Smith and the beautiful horse Justify take the Triple
Crown trophy. ’He’s [referring to Justify] sent from heaven,’ an emotional
Smith said as he gazed up to those heavens, so humbled and so blessed and
giving thanks to his Lord and Savior as he soaked up the love from the New York
racing crowd he has forever embraced. The old jockey and the champion horse
raced in complete harmony together. ‘He listens to me,’ Smith said. When Smith
wanted Justify to relax, he relaxed. When Smith asked him to go, he went. ‘He
was perfection today, he really was,’ Smith said. Smith was so at ease he took
a nap before the biggest race of his life.”
We can learn many lessons from this remarkable story of a hero
jockey and a hero horse. One is that Mike Smith, the jockey, was so confident
before the race he could take a nap. He was a true Christian hero. Why? Like
every real hero, he’d done the work, pushed himself to go the extra mile, and
left the rest to God.
Mike Smith, at 52, is the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown.
Age didn’t matter to him. It didn’t matter to Steve Cauthen either, who was
only 18 when he won the Triple Crown in 1978. Heroes come in all ages, sizes,
sexes, nationalities, and personalities.
If we look at the heroes in the Bible: David, Joshua, Caleb,
Gideon, Esther, Mary, Timothy, and all the rest—they all have the same
characteristics. They did the work and accepted the challenge to go the extra
mile for God.
David was a great shepherd before he was a giant killer. Gideon
was good at caring for his family before becoming a magnificent warrior and
saving his family and his people from their enemies. Esther was a humble,
obedient wife before she rescued an entire nation. We all have hero genes and
capabilities to excel for the Lord.
Solomon was the wisest man ever. He put it very succinctly:
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the
grave, whither thou goest.”
There you have it. We only have one chance to do this life, so
let’s not be lazy. Let’s get our HERO on! First Corinthians 10:31 gives us
excellent instruction: “Whether therefore ye
eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” And
Matthew 5:41 is also good advice for heroes: “And whoever will compel thee to
go one mile, go with him two.” So instead of doing just enough, we can excel at
doing the extra, not for the praise of people, but for our God and His son
Jesus our Lord.
God is always with us; we can excel if we’re
willing to give it a little extra effort. The rewards in Heaven are more
extraordinary than anything we can ever imagine.
One final note on the race yesterday:
The horse, Justify, was magnificent. As I watched it run, the
stretch and power of his muscles brought tears to my eyes; it was so beautiful.
The Lord led me to the following blurb, where the horse’s owner
talked about how Justify got his name.
“’Single-word monikers are often ‘strong’ and
‘stallion kind of names,’ said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s
president and CEO. From his farm, they’re often rooted in Christian terms, too.
That intersection resulted in Justify.
Walden said that the name comes from the New Testament book of Romans, which
‘talks about being justified by faith.’” (Horse Racing Nation June 10, 2018).
Have a hero’s week!
Love, Carolyn
LIFE LESSONS TO EMPOWER OUR SOULS:
TREAT YOURSELF TO MORE GREAT
STORIES
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