When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed ere the day is half done, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s full giving is only begun. His love has no limit, His Grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men; for out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
~Annie Johnson Flint (1862-1932)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
~ Hebrews 12:1-2
Rhythm and cadence and pain and breathing and impact and sweat and music and wind and quiet and prayer and power and danger are a big part of this writer’s day. He is one of those crazy commuters you see going along the side of the road in a megapolis like Phoenix. Let’s just say i’ve spent a lot of time in the saddle. i don’t even have a car any more.
i love every minute of it.
i put in about the same number of pedal strokes as did the average person breath in the last year. That is about 2 million times. And if you straightened out the route in the last year, it would have gotten me just about to New York city from my house here in Arizona (~2,400 miles). Mildly interesting, but not overwhelmingly impressive is mileage like this. Races like the Tour de France cover almost as much distance in only 23 days. However, they do it in peletons with 12 pound bikes. i go solo, i go fast, and my 25 pound bike has a rack that is graced with a full-size plastic milk crate to carry my stuff and groceries. Yeah, i am one of those goofy old cyclists that is too old too care that my Trek 7.3 hybrid looks like a geek bike.
And there are a lot of minutes in a year in a saddle like this… a little over 10,000 of them in a year like this year. It is a little hard to describe to anyone who has not learned to actually welcome pain and strained breathing as a means of transportation, but there is a mystical quality to the state the body gets into when it is warmed up and moving well.
The pain is not overwhelming, just constant, the cycling term (appropriate) is suffering – ever a reminder of my limitation and weakness. And the pain is ever a reminder that G_d pours out His Grace in torrents in our lives daily. We can – in Him – keep going; WAY LONGER than we ever thought possible.
The rhythm and cadence inherent in bike riding give light to the truth that the Christian walk is a long obedience in the same direction.
The wind in my ears roars of the truth of His Spirit that works so mightily within us.
The crashes (they happen) speak clearly to what happens when i take my eyes off of Jesus.
The sweat actually reminds me of the cleansing that G_d brings to our lives. It cools and purifies as it pours off a body riding hard in the 110 degree heat of the Southwest Deserts.
The power in my riding grows the more the old tissue in my legs is torn down and rebuilt by the miraculous body G_d has given me.
The music in my headsets is exclusively Christian music. This writer is not legalistic about stuff like this… it just seems that i have the opportunity to worship G_d many times a day out in the open air… any other music just seems a waste of time.
So, what is the deal with this divergent blog entry? Usually, things go in such a different direction. Or do they? Is there any separation between the mundane and the spiritual? Doesn’t everything we do matter? Or rather, shouldn’t we see that everything we do – does indeed matter in the Kingdom?
It does.
Every moment, every breath can be wrapped up in One Thing. Jesus. Our bikes, our cars, our jobs, our cooking, our sleeping all have meaning. These things are not irrelevant, they are merely means to communicate more of Him and His plans into our lives. However, the only way all those aspects of our lives can stay in true focus, is for us to keep our eyes fixed on The Immovable Anchor Point in Jesus.
Do you have a hard, mundane, painful rhythm in your life beloved? Does it take your eyes off of the Author and Finisher of your faith? Don’t let it. Look to Him – and let Him bring new meaning to every aspect of these aspects of life.
