The Importance Of Christian Unity Series

I believe we must rely on our Heavenly Father to keep us unified and focused on what is most important in life, a relationship with Jesus Christ and bringing others to a relationship through our words, and our actions. Total reliance on God, not on ourselves.

I read a story of reliance in the form of a Father and son. There names are Dick and Rick Hoyt and they are known as Team Hoyt. Google Team Hoyt and you can read more about this amazing Father and son team. Do you know what they do? They race. They race a lot. In Max Lucado’s new book entitled “3:16, The Numbers of Hope” he writes; Team Hoyt has completed sixty-four marathons, two hundred and six triathlons. Six triathlons at Ironman distance. Two hundred and four 10K runs. Since 1975 they’ve crossed nearly a thousand finish lines. They’ve even crossed the USA. It took them forty-five days to run and pedal 3,735 miles, but they did it.

Team Hoyt loves races. But only half of Team Hoyt can run. Dick, the Dad can. But Rick’s legs don’t work, nor does his speech. At his birth in 1962, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, starving oxygen from his brain, stealing coordination from his body. Doctors gave no hope for his development.

Dick and his wife Judy disagreed with the prognosis. Rick couldn’t bathe, dress or feed himself, but he could think. They knew he was bright. So they enrolled him in a public school. He graduated. He entered college and graduated again.

But Rick wanted to run. At age fifteen he asked his Dad if they could enter a five mile benefit race. Dick was not a runner, but he was a Father, so he loaded his son in a three-wheeled wheelchair, and off they went. They haven’t stopped since.

Young Rick Hoyt relies on his Dad to do it all; lift him, push him, pedal him and tow him. Other than a willing heart, he makes no contribution to the effort. Rick

Depends entirely on the strength of his Dad, and according to Max Lucado;”It should be the same for us. Total reliance on our Heavenly Father in all aspects of our lives, especially as the unified Body of Christ.”

Do you have an extra twelve minutes this week? If you think about it, you probably have an extra twelve minutes this afternoon if you set aside time! I just need twelve minutes this week. Two minutes a day for the next six days. Two minutes to set aside time to pray for someone specifically in need. Someone who needs our help and our encouragement. Someone that God puts on your heart. You’ll know who they are. Their name will be revealed to you throughout the day. Just two minutes.

There is something that I pray about every day. When I first wake up in the morning, I pray that God would put a “hero of the day” in my life that day. It may be someone I know very well, an acquaintance, or someone I have never met. And each day God brings me that hero. Every day. When I am speaking with that particular person, I’ll know that they are my “hero of the day!” Amen.