Devotionals

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I grew up on a dusty country road in eastern Kentucky that saw few cars except for the few people who lived “up the branch”. My memories of summer are filled with climbing trees, reading under a shade tree, playing with baby dolls, and riding bikes with my sister. This was one of my favorite things to do. I loved the feeling of freedom and adventure as we pedaled up and down that road our pigtails flying behind us. To anyone else we were just kids on bikes, but to us we were brave adventurers riding horses through the jungle or motorcyclists on the run from the monsters lurking in the shadows of the trees all around. It is hard to say just how many miles we logged in riding up and down in front of our house.

But I found out pretty quick that going uphill was harder than downhill, and was not nearly as fun. Riding uphill took more energy. It was actually work, but if my sister was going to ride up the hill by my grandparent’s house, I was not going to wait at the bottom. I remember the ache in my leg muscles when I reached the top of that little hill, but it was all worth it when we got to come back down. We would coast down the hill laughing as the wind whipped our hair and whizzed past our ears.

Coasting on my bike was fun and easy. It required no effort and you could travel quite a distance pretty fast. The thing about coasting is that you could pick up speed pretty quickly. If you were not careful, you could lose control of the bike. As the incline leveled out, you would lose speed quickly as well. Before long, your bike would begin to wobble and you had to stop completely or begin pedaling again to stay upright.

Our relationship with the Lord works the same way. Moving farther away from Him is like coasting, easy and fast. It is easy to pick up speed as you go. You do not realize how far you have traveled until you look back where you started. The slide begins small. Devotions slip from a daily time of reflection to which you look forward to a dry and dutiful routine. Finally they fall by the wayside as your to do list grows. You stay home from church because you are tired, then because you need some family time. Soon, more and more activities crowd your day until you do not go at all. This is the place where the speed at which you are traveling is dangerous. You can easily lose control and find yourself wrecked, not just in your relationship with Jesus, but in all areas of your life. You will find yourself wobbling back and forth at the time when you should be established in life.

The solution is simple. Start pedaling again. Moving closer to the Lord can feel like an uphill ride for a while because it takes time and energy. It can require effort on your part to maintain spiritual vitality. There will always be something else to do instead of praying, but the prayer closet is the place of great strength in the life of a believer. You must be intentional with church attendance. You must carve out time in your schedule for devotions. The result of your effort is a relationship with the Lord that is full and satisfying. It is definitely worth the effort.

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