A few days ago a few of us ComLife girls decided to take a spin class at the local gym. You know the class where you pedal on stationary bikes like your life depended on it. So I have likened this little activity to Christianity and it’s kind of funny to picture but it makes more sense then you think.
You walk into class where the people look like they got it all together and can handle anything that is thrown at them, and instantly insecurity sets in but you still relectantly yourtake place on the bike, which is very uncomfortable, because you want more then what others say you can have. As you begin to pedal the pain slowly but surely begins to take place. A few songs later, you feel yourself getting weaker and thinking that you can’t go on. The instructor encourages you to continue and even asks you to crank up the tension. “You can do it, Don’t give up, Go a little more”!, she yells above the noisey music. All the while I see my reflection in the mirror and I also see the reflection of Shaye and Teresa who are having just as much trouble as I am but my sisters don’t hesitate to give me an encouraging smile.
Now I feel a lot more uplifted and begining to sing and pedal faster, thinking to myself, if I am to reflect Christ’s image then the reflection in the mirror is not my own but that of Christ, so I pedal faster and harder, toward the image of my Savior. My legs are burning but I don’t want to stop because in spin class the pounds and calories are stripped away so a toned healthy body is revealed but in this walk with Christ, the more you continue on through the pain and struggling the flesh begins to be stripped away and Jesus is slowly revealed through you. Egging Shaye and Teresa on I hear the instructor say crank up the tension some more, “I can’t do that”, I say to myself but the only way to find out if you can HANDLE a little more is to GO a little more, knowing that your body may grow weak but your Spirit in Christ will not die out.
After all the craziness your legs are wobbling but you feel accomplished and even now as I write this two days later I still feel sore but I know that it will benefit me, if not know then in the future the hard work will pay off. As long as you keep pedaling toward the image of Christ, knowing that rest will be found in his arms, it will be painful and uncomfortable but it will also be fun, joyful, and allow God to strip away your flesh to reveal his Son in you.
