When I was about 8 or 9 years old I rode my bike on a 50 mile bike ride with group of other kids and adults.  When I think back on it I have to wonder “What was my mom thinking?”  Really!!  I was just a little kid who preferred to read books to playing outside, or playing at all for that matter.   I was by no means an athletic kid.  There was a van that followed along behind us, no doubt for the purpose of giving a ride to those who couldn’t finish.  But it never once crossed my mind  to quit.   When my mom said that we were going to ride 50 miles on a bike that day I just accepted it.  Despite the option of the van I concentrated on riding my bike and keeping my legs turning the wheels.  It was a long ride, but I finished the entire 50 miles.  Yes, I was sore after that bike ride, but as an adult I can appreciate my ability to focus and my determination to finish what my mom had started.

The Bible tells us to “….run with endurance the race God has set before us.”  (Hebrews 12:1)  Sometimes our spiritual journey seems long, hard and impossible.  We wonder, “What is God thinking?”  It would be so much easier to give up.  But if we ignore the long, hard and impossible part and concentrate on making it to the finish line, we will finish the race that God has set before us.

We live on the east coast and received a lot of heavy rains last evening.  A man we know told us a story about how he was glad to be home last night and settled down in his living room chair.  Then it started to rain.  For the last several years their basement has had a leak when it rains but they have not been able to figure out where it was coming from.  So despite the fact that he didn’t want to get up and go outside in the  pouring rain he did just that so he could discover where the leak came from and they could fix it.

Life is like that.  We would like to lose weight but don’t want to change our eating habits and start to exercise.  Or we would like to get out and meet more people but it is so much easier to just sit down and watch some TV.  Or maybe we would like to read more of the Bible but instead it is easier to pick up the romance novel or western, after all we can find that, it’s right on our bedside table and it’s been so long since we picked up the Bible that we can’t remember where we last laid it down.

But think of the end results.  The man at the beginning of the story got up and went out in the rain despite being tired and all settled in because for several years he had desperately wanted to find the source of the leak.  What happened when he did?  He found what he was looking for.  What are you finding?  We generally find what we most desire.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Matthew 6:33 NIV