Hank Smith:                      00:03                   Welcome to followHIM. Favorites. This is where John and I are sharing a single story to go with each week’s lesson. John, we’re in sections 81 through 83. Today, I want to point out a verse and share a story. This is section 82, verse 19. Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, not himself, of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God. That verse made me think of a story, John, I think you’ll like it. It’s December, 2012. Kenyan athlete Abel Mutai was comfortably in the lead of a cross country race. In the final stages of the race, the seasoned athlete, he’s won a medal at the Olympic Games, made a huge error, believing he had already crossed the finish line. He stopped running several meters short. He was confused by the signage around him, and mistakenly thought he had won the race.

John Bytheway:               01:01                   Hmm.

Hank Smith:                      01:01                   In second place John was Ivan Fernandez, who had been some distance behind him in second place. Obviously was now catching up because he had stopped. Realizing what was happening Fernandez started shouting at Mutai for him to continue running and finish the race. Mutai didn’t understand what Fernandez was saying, and Fernandez could have easily passed him and taken the win. Instead, Fernandez physically pushed him. He’s like, Hey, you gotta keep going.

John Bytheway:               01:30                   Wow.

Hank Smith:                      01:31                   Mutai to victory ahead of him. After the race, here comes the journalist. Why did you do that? Why did you let him win? Fernandez replied, I didn’t let him win. He was going to win. The journalist pushed, but you could have won. Fernandez looked at him and replied, this is the part I want you to hear. What would’ve been the merit in my victory? What would’ve been the honor of that medal?

                                           01:57                   What would my mom think of that? He says. What would my mom think of that? I didn’t deserve to win. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made the mistake. As soon as I saw him stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him. I just love the story. I love the integrity. Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor. It’s not that he didn’t compete hard. He wanted to take first place, and I’m sure he would have had he been faster. Maybe he’s saying, look, if I was in that same position, this is what I would want someone to do for me. It’s only right.

John Bytheway:               02:38                   I love that he pushed him, but another lesson you could take is be the person your mom thinks you are.

Hank Smith:                      02:47                   That is great. What would my mom think?

John Bytheway:               02:50                   What would my mom think? Come on.

Hank Smith:                      02:52                   Yeah. Yeah. How could I possibly do that? So everybody out there, the next time you’re running, push the person in front of you.

John Bytheway:               02:59                   In front of you.

Hank Smith:                      03:00                   Yeah. Make sure that they beat you. Hey, we hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We’re with Dr. Eva Witesman this week. She’s unbelievable. She walks us through these verses and points out things, John, you and I have never seen before. Then come back here next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.