Episode 236

TODAY’S READING:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Mark 16:15

 

This weekend I went to Gainesville to visit my sister, Amanda as she has two more weeks before she moves back down to Miami.

 

My little sister became a member of the cycle bar location near her university. She has been riding consistently for weeks now and has begged us to all take a class with her while we were up there.

 

Naturally, I said yes, I have a peloton at home so cycling has been my choice of exercise for some time now. What could go wrong?

 

I packed my Peloton shoes and got to class. 2 songs in and I already knew I was pushing myself a little harder than I do at home. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by so many strangers, maybe it’s because I didn’t eat but I knew that this ride was going to be a little tough on me.

 

30 minutes in and I felt as if I was going to pass out on the bike right then and there so I unclipped and went out to the lobby and lied on the ground.

 

I felt so embarrassed, I had Peloton shoes on and everyone knows what Peloton is. How could I have failed a cycling class?

 

In my head, I played out this full scenario where the instructors would talk about me after the class ended. Did you see that girl, she has a peloton and our class was so hard she had to take a break.

 

It was in that movie that I was playing in my mind that I heard the words get deposited into my spirit. Just because you are wearing Peloton shoes, and this class had you on your back looking for the cold floor, doesn’t mean the Peloton organization is any less credible for the great cycling classes they offer. You are still worthy of the shoes, you are a member of the Peloton community.

 

Then the picture flipped in my head. What if my peloton shoes represented my shield of faith in Jesus. What if my shoes showed that I was a Christian and what if I went into the world, and everyone knew I was a member of the Kingdom of God because of my bold shoes and I failed. Does that say anything about the credibility of the message of Jesus?

 

We are bound to mess up. We aren’t going to get it right. The world is going to have us looking for a cold towel to place on our necks. The world is going to hurt us and hold us back and sometimes the world is going to win and we are going to give into sin. It doesn’t make us any less worthy of our shield of faith. It doesn’t take away any credibility of the Kingdom of God.

 

After about 10 minutes of me lying on the floor, I got up, went back into the class, and finished it. When you give into temptation, when the world questions if you are a Christian, get back up and finish the class. It’s not over yet and all we need to do is keep going, we can’t give up. 

 

PRAYER

Father God thank you for depositing that into my Spirit. I hope I did that analogy the justice it did for me as I was lying on that cold floor. I thank you for calling me worthy of wearing the shield of faith. I thank you that even when I mess up, you call me daughter. Jesus, I pray for the person on the other side of this screen. May they know, no matter how far they run, no matter what people think, no matter their faults, may they always feel the love you have for them. It is with everything that we pray, AMEN!