This Saturday is the running of the 134th Kentucky Derby. It’s been dubbed, “The Run for the Roses” and “The most exciting two minutes in sports.” It’s the biggest stage in horse racing. It’s what thorougbred horses are made for…but only a select few get to run for those roses; only a select few actually have what it takes to even enter the race.
In case you know nothing about horse racing, developing a winning horse has a lot to do with training, coupled with a dynamic pedigree. They have to come from a family of winners. Find a horse that has parents and grandparents and great-grandparents that have a winning track record and you have a horse worth training.
My father-in-law is a horse trainer in Lexington. In April, his thoroughbred gave birth to a young foal whose bloodline has a history of winning. Her sire (or father) is Thunder Gulch…winner of the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes…just one race shy of being a Triple Crown winner. That’s a pretty good pedigree! Chances are, this young foal will turn out to be a winning horse. She has her father’s blood. But, it’s not enough just to have a winning pedigree. She has to enter into a strict training regiment. She has to have a healthy balance of exercise, diet, and rest. If she wants to run the race her father ran, it will take a lot of hard work.
What about you? Are you interested in running the race your Father ran? Several times in Scripture the Christian faith is likened to a race. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Here’s the good news…we all have our Father’s blood. We were created in His image. We have a winning pedigree. But what we do with that is up to us. We were made to run this race, but it will not be easy. It will require hard work and discipline. Are you up for it? There will be rainy days. Will you fight through it? There will be un-motivating moments. Will you dig deep? There will be obstacles and barriers along the way. Will you persevere? There will be moments of wanting to quit. Will you endure? Your Heavenly Father did. Look at what Hebrews 12:1-3; 7-11 says:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart…Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
It’s my prayer that you will find encouragement from this passage to run this race our Father ran. But don’t just run it…finish it! You were made for this race…you’ve got your Father’s blood.
As always, I’ll be tuning into the Derby via television on Saturday. And who knows…in three years, my father-in-law’s foal may enter onto the biggest horse racing stage in the world and make a run for the roses...and maybe I’ll finally get to go!