THE GRINCH, SECRETARIAT & AN ENLARGED HEART

Secretariat

The Grinch
This past summer I did a 60 part series on Facebook regarding biblical lessons to be learned from Dr. Seuss books from To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937) to Oh, the Places Youll Go (1990). Of course, when thinking about Christmas, we have Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), which begins with these words: Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just North of Whoville, did NOT! The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please do not ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasnt screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all, may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Whos. Similar to the Bethlehem inn that had no room for Mary and Joseph the night Jesus was born, the Grinchs heart had no room for Christmas it was two sizes too small. He didnt just dislike Christmas; he hated it and those who celebrated it.

It was 40 years ago in 1973 when arguably the greatest thoroughbred horse ever Secretariat left his mark on history. What does Secretariat have to do with the Grinch or Christmas? Trust me there is an amazing connection. Born on March 30, 1970, Secretariat was the foal of Bold Ruler (father) and Somethingroyal (mother). He was a large chestnut colt, given the nickname, "Big Red." He was owned by Penny Chenery of The Meadow in Caroline County, Virginia. His racing career was only 16 months. Secretariat started 21 times, won 16 and finished in the money in all but his first race. In his first racing season, his seven victories in nine races enabled him to become the first 2-year-old to be voted Horse of the Year. In his 2nd season, Secretariat won his first two races, but in his final race before the Kentucky Derby (Wood Memorial), he finished third to his stable mate Angle Light and Sham, a horse that would be his greatest challenger to the Triple Crown. The Wood Memorial was his first 1-1/8 mile race and some thought Secretariat may have hit his limit. The Kentucky Derby (1-1/4 miles) was only 2 weeks away. However, on May 5, 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby by 2-1/2 lengths over Sham in record time of 1:59.40, the first Derby winner to crack two minutes. It is a record that has stood for 40 years. Two weeks later (May 19, 1973) in the Preakness Stakes, Secretariat went from last to first on the clubhouse turn, and won by 2-1/2 lengths over Sham in 1:53 for the 1-3/16 miles. It is a record that has stood for 40 years. Do you see a pattern forming?

Three weeks later (June 9, 1973), only four horses challenged Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes, even though the previous 7 horses to have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness withered in the 1-1/2mile race. There had not been a Triple Crown winner in 25 years (Citation [1948]). In fact, since 1979, this has happened to all eleven horses that have gone into the Belmont Stakes with hopes of a Triple Crown. Secretariat and Sham broke together and stayed that way into the first turn. They were by themselves on the backstretch when Secretariat made his move. "Secretariat is alone. He is moving like a tremendous machine!" track announcer Chick Anderson yelled. "He's going to be the Triple Crown winner. Unbelievable! An amazing performance, he's 25 lengths in front!" In the end, he actually won by 31 lengths.

An Enlarged Heart
OK, so there is a connection to the Grinch and Secretariat, but what does this have to do with Christmas? Let me ask you a question, how big is your heart, is it more like the Grinchs or Secretariats? I am not talking about the fist-sized organ in your chest that pumps blood throughout your body, I am talking about your desire to know Gods will for your life and live a life that pleases Him, regardless of your present circumstances. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It is made up of 22 stanzas, each with eight verses. The stanzas correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Hebrew, each word in the first stanza begins with aleph (the first Hebrew letter), each word in the second stanza begins with beth (the second Hebrew letter) and so on. Id like to look at the fourth stanza (vv. 25-32), which begins: My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word. I have declared my ways, and You answered me; Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So I shall meditate on Your wonderful works. My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word.

Secretariats 2:24 at Belmont remains a world record for 1-1/2 miles on a dirt track 40 years later, and it's still two full seconds better than subsequent challengers to his Belmont Stakes record. The 2 3/5 seconds by which he broke Gallant Man's 16-year-old track record was the equivalent of 13 lengths. Secretariat was certainly a remarkable horse three Triple Crown race records that have stood for 40 years. However, his life ended tragically. Suffering from a painful hoof disease, the 19-year-old superstar was put to sleep on October 4, 1989. It was then that the secret of this tremendous machine was discovered. During his necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, determined that his heart weighed 22 pounds. You may say so what? The average horses heart weighs about 8.5 pounds, so Secretariats heart was 2.5 times larger than average. Swerczek said, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldnt believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine." God had given him a larger engine than any other horse. Secretariat had a Reverse Grinch Heart.

It have highlighted the phrases regarding the psalmists soul clinging to the dust and melting from heaviness in the Grinch color, because he was clearly feeling more like the Grinch than he was like Secretariat. But he did not stay there. This stanza closes with these words: I will run the course of Your commandments, For You are enlarging my heart.

God was increasing the psalmists heart to be equal to the challenges that He had brought into his life, so that he could actually run the course God had for him. The root of the Hebrew word translated heart means the authority inside. When things are difficult, does our heart decide to abandon God or keep pressing on with Him? How does this enlarging happen? It comes from studying Gods word (revive me according to Your word, teach me Your statutes, make me understand Your precepts), talking to God (I have declared my ways, and You answered me), and thinking about what He has done in the past (I shall meditate on Your wonderful works). As we spend time with God, He enlarges our heart. The difficulties that He brings are meant to drive us to Him, not away from Him. Maybe you are feeling like the Grinch this Christmas. Unlike Secretariat, you are not running the course God has for you. Thankfully, we have not come to the end of Grinchs story. After his attempt to steal Christmas, Dr. Seuss informs us: Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall & the small was singing! Without any presents at all! He HADNT stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling & puzzling: How could this be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! And he puzzled 3 hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadnt before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesnt come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more! And what happened then ? Well in Whoville they say that the Grinchs small heart grew three sizes that day! And the minute his heart didnt feel quite so tight, he whizzed with his load through the bright morning light and he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he HE HIMSELF ! The Grinch carved the roast beast! With his enlarged heart, the Grinch had room for Christmas. What made the difference? It was the Whos singing celebrating Christmas without any presents it opened his eyes to what Christmas was really about.

If God has granted you repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, you are surrounded by those who have little or no room for Jesus in their hearts. They may not be grumpy, grouchy and grinchy, but God has not yet opened their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior. The Apostle Peter says something very interesting in his first epistle: Set apart the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. (3:15) Chances are nobody is going to ask you about a reason for the hope that is in you when everything is going right in your life. Peters statement comes in the midst of a discussion on suffering for righteousness sake and being reviled for good conduct in Messiah. It is when a person maintains their faith in God and determination to live for Him in the midst of deep personal loss and difficulties that the world is going to take notice and ask questions. It is when a believer can say the words of Job (Yahweh gives and Yahweh takes away; blessed be the name of Yahweh [1:21] and Shall we indeed accept good from the hand of God, and shall we not accept adversity? [2:10]) and mean it, that those around him or her are going to wonder about the reason. Jesus is not just the Reason for the Season. He is the reason for our hope at all times. Paul writes in Romans 8: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against Gods elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Messiah who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Messiah Jesus our Lord. (vv. 31-39) God sending Jesus to die on the cross proves beyond all doubt that He loves you and me. No created thing can separate us from the love of our Creator that is

found through Jesus the Messiah. There is no need to look at second causes all things (including tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword) come into our lives by the hand of our heavenly Father. All things certainly are not good, but as Paul indicates earlier in this chapter, all things work together for God to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (vs. 28). We dont need to understand what God is doing in our lives, we can rest in the knowledge that He is working for our good. I am persuaded with all my heart that God is in control, that He works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). I try my best not to ask the question why? when things seem to go wrong, because I have come to believe that God is always at work.

Closing Thought
Secretariat was granted by his Creator with an enlarged heart. But an enlarged heart was not enough he still needed to train hard and run hard. When we trust in Jesus, we are given a new heart, a heart that God can enlarge. But we still need to run the course of His commandments live that life He created us to live. I am sure that God got pleasure out of seeing Secretariat run but not as much pleasure as seeing His children run their races. Are you running the race that God has set before you? Are you going to be able to say with the Apostle Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Whether our world will see Jesus in us will depend on whether our heart is like the Grinchs (shrunken and discontent with Gods plan) or like Secretariats (enlarged and content with the course God has set for us). Time spent with God studying His word, telling Him about our struggles, meditating on His wonderful works in our lives is the very thing our hearts need to get us back into the race and finish it.

God Bless You & Your Family Merry Christmas In Jesus Love, Donald