Separate Scenarios, Crystal Clear Conclusion
I just returned from a brisk but beautiful and beneficial bike ride. Because just like a healthy brain needs the Bible on a regular basis, so also the body needs regular exercise so I’m always thankful (a) when I have an extra amount of time for an even more rigorous workout and (b) when I don’t get hit by one of the smartphone-crazed/can’t-go-two-minutes-without-texting-or-at-least-checking-my-phone drivers populating the roads these days. (I’m not thrilled about the close calls, either, like the one on today’s ride, but I file those under the “no harm, no foul” category.)
Anyway, the weather has turned quite a bit cooler recently with winter wagging its warmness-zapping finger in advance of its full arrival, so I wasn’t able to ride or even walk outside for the past three days due to a distinct drop in the temperature.
Interestingly, when I first headed out for today’s timely trek, it struck me (probably not a good idiom to use when discussing bicycles 🙂 ) how HARD it was to pedal up the first hill in that direction. It’s usually a piece of cake (ah, much better idiom!) but not this time, not today. So I had to get off of my bike and WALK it up that medium-sized hill. And rode without incident for the next several minutes of (wonderful, beautiful) FLAT (i.e., non-hilly) road.
But then I came to the second hill in that direction, this one MUCH LARGER than the first, and you know what? I was able to RIDE up and over it with ease! BECAUSE MY BODY WAS NOW “BACK IN THE SWING” OF EXERCISING, after those first fifteen minutes after that three-day layoff.
And the rest of the ride was, as they say, a breeze. Easy-peasy.
Until the very end. Seemingly suddenly, it got VERY HARD to pedal once again, like three hours before. So hard that I actually had to pull over and sit down for a few minutes and guess what, I was able to pedal with ease. BECAUSE WHEN THE BODY GETS WEARY OR TIRED ALL IT NEEDS IS A LITTLE REST.
And that’s exactly how it is with the Christian life: sometimes we need to rest — and sometimes we just need to get off of our backsides and START PEDALING.
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