Rick Hoyt was born with a condition that resulted in him being a quadriplegic, his body paralyzed from the waist down. But Rick’s parents wanted to do everything they could to ensure their son lived as normal as life as possible.

In 1977, Rick told his father, Dick Hoyt, that he would like to participate in a five mile benefit run to help a Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick Hoyt, though not a runner, pushed his son in a wheelchair the five miles, coming in next to last. Later that night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, I don’t even feel like I’m handicapped.”

This was just the beginning of what would become more than 1,000 races completed, including marathons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions – where Dick swam 2.4 miles pulling his son behind him in a boat, rode 112 miles on a specially built bicycle that allowed his son to ride on the front, and ran 26.2 miles, pushing his son ahead of him in a specially built running chair). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days.

Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.” Rick, realizing how much his father had done for him, wanted so badly to be able to return the favor.

Is there a spiritual application for us in Dick Hoyt and his son, Rick? Consider all that God has done for us. There is not one blessing that we enjoy in life that did not come to us from God. Not a single one! God, our heavenly Father, has done so much for us so that we could live the fullest life possible. John 10:10. Yes, He even gave His life for us. John 3:16.

Just as Rick wanted to give back to his earthly father, as Christians we ought to want to give back to our heavenly Father. You mean we ought to want to give monetarily? Yes, that’s part of it. But it’s much more than that. Before we give monetarily, we ought to first give ourselves. II Corinthians 8:5. We ought to give our lives as a living sacrifice to God. Romans 12:1-2. We ought to make Christ our reason for living, our purpose in life. Philippians 1:21. We ought to constantly ask, “What can I do for my Father, in view of all He’s done for me?”