Run the Race

If you've ever been to the city of New Orleans, surely you've noticed (or even taken a spin) on the horse drawn carriages that roam the streets. It's pretty amazing to me that these horses are so well trained to obey their masters and ignore the crazy traffic and crazy people. Part of this seemingly soldier like focus is due to "blinders". The horses are equipped with two shields, one for each eye, on the outside of the eye, to block their peripheral vision. This way the horse is not distracted by cars and crazy people that run around on the side of him waving their arms and so forth. Check it out next time your in New Orleans, if you don't believe me.

They use these same blinders for the horses in horse races. It keeps their focus on the goal in front of them (running the race, one hoof in front of the other) rather than being worried about the other horse that's sneaking up on the side of him. It's an amazingly useful tool. In fact, We should make human blinders.

Have you ever considered life to be a race? The apostle Paul did.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should."

In Hebrews chapter 12, he hints to the blinders I spoke of earlier.

Hebrews 12:1-2 "...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus..."

The race we run should be with ever more endurance and enthusiasm, as it is for an eternal everlasting prize that we run for. Every step we take, each decision and every pursuit should be advanced only with much purpose behind it. Every worldly distraction, immoral or not, that slows us down or trips us up, should be trashed, erased from our minds by the blinders of Gods motivating love to see His will come to completion. In every pursuit, let His face be your goal, and His love be your fuel.