With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8.

I keep thinking about Secretariat. In many of his races he lagged last at the beginning of the race. But at the Belmont Stakes, he burst out from the gate with another horse and then surged forward powerfully to leave every horse behind winning by 31 lengths, claiming the Triple Crown and maintaining his record to this day. I thought about his hooves this morning! Look at what God created and how He designed the horse! Secretariat ran his race. I want to run mine. I want to run to my Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit!

And reading our psalm, Psalm 101, I couldn’t help but think about when I was a brand new Mom. I was determined I would be the best Mom and every decision would be right no matter how tired I was. Just do the right thing always. And then motherhood happened with sleep deprivation and a very active and determined daughter. In the notes below it said David may have written this psalm at the very beginning of his reign as king. I understand, David! Do everything right! I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise…I will be careful to lead a blameless life – when will you come to me?…I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart…I will not look with approval on anything that is vile…I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it…The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil…v. 1-4. David goes on but you get the idea. Life intrudes at breakneck speed…even for David and new moms.

We can’t live our lives without evil because we live in a broken world. But with our hearts turned to our God we can run our race. But remember along the racecourse are obstacles and we need training. What is right? What is needed? More and more I’m learning what is most needed is to trust God and love Him. Secretariat was designed to run and run fast and long. Starting that race at that speed he should have tired. Instead he continued to surge forward further and farther away from the other thoroughbreds. I remember watching that race on TV and every time I watch the movie my heart surges right with him. Run Secretariat…run! Secretariat did what he was designed to do. What am I uniquely designed to do as a child of God? Run my race with God! He will show me how to love Him and His children as I trust Him to faithfully train me. I’m not ashamed to admit I need God to train me in the way I should go. I’m ready to run my race with God! How about you?