I grew up on a variety of two-wheeled, speed-producing machines. Bicycles, homemade minibikes, and Honda motorcycles of all sizes and shapes. We had Trail 70s, TL-125s, CR-250s, 650s, 750s, and Gold Wings. We even had a couple of pieced-together Harleys along the way. Recently, I owned the Yamaha 1600cc Roadstar in the picture.
My favorite model of all was the CR-250. Motorcycle enthusiasts know the CRs had two-stroke engines which meant an instant power band. You could literally pull a wheelie in any gear with a touch of the throttle. Man, that’s really living! I sometimes miss the free-wheeling, carefree days of my youth.
The type of riding I loved to do most was trail riding. In the eastern part of Kentucky there are unlimited trails made from logging and strip mining. When doing this type of riding, you have to often anticipate what the trail will bring. Because of the mountains and curves, trail riding is full of the unexpected. I crashed on the trail at various speeds — it went with the territory. Once I wrecked in high gear at 55 m.p.h.. The only thing seriously hurt was my ego!
The worse injury I ever suffered came from the time I was pushing my bike and it fell on me. Go ahead and laugh, but it’s true. I was simply trying to get it on top of a large boulder when I lost my footing. The bike also lost its footing, but I softened its landing. The footpeg dug into my kneecap and blood began to flow like coffee at truck stop. It wasn’t as bad as it felt or looked, but at the time, “OUCH!”
There’s a lesson in this somewhere. Motorcycles are made for movement. Gravity teaches that they cannot just sit still without a prop or amazing feats of balance.
God’s church and His people are just like motorcycles in that respect.
We may fear movement and change, but the real thing to fear is sitting still. A sign that a fall is imminent is a lack of movement and change. When programs stay the same for decades, we better get ready to soften the fall because the fall is coming! When services look the same week after week, look out! Something’s going down!
The same is true in our personal spiritual journey as well. Our journey with Christ should bring change and movement to our thoughts and actions. If we are not progressing, changing, moving — look out! Something’s going down ! Spiritual gravity DEMANDS IT!