I enjoy my bike ride every morning. The sun is just rising but the wind hasn’t, the birds are singing and the dew is still on the grass. This is a quiet time for contemplation, reflection and thankfulness to God for my blessings. I ride blissfully along and realize how good life is.
I ride the same route every morning and most of it is an easy ride. But toward the end there is a hill. As I pump and pant up the hill I am encouraged that just over the top is a smooth ride down the other side towards home.
I think about how this is the way life is. We ride along a level path until one day a bump in the road shows up. We may to struggle to get over the top, but we learn if we stay strong, we will come down the other side and continue on towards home.
Life, no matter how good it is, does have its challenges, but if we keep focused on the end of the journey we know there is rest. As we ride along the hills and valleys of life, we can enjoy the good times and we know we can rely on God to help us through the tough times.
In 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV) the apostle Paul encourage us “to fight the good fight, to finish the race and to keep the faith.†In Romans 15:4-5 (NIV) we read “For everything that was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.†Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord and he will make your paths straight†Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.â€
As we travel through our lives, we gain strength from God’s Word and we keep our eyes on the finish…….eternity in heaven with God.