I have heard the saying, “You never forget how to ride a bike,” but in my case it is not true.
Several weeks ago I rode a bike for the first time in almost 30 years. I had difficulty going forward without nearly crashing whenever I was on the bike.
I remember how much I enjoyed riding when I was younger, and I really wanted to get better at riding the bike again so every time we would go camping I would make it a point to ride the bike. Now I am slowly relearning how to ride one.
Yesterday, my youngest son came to visit us at the local campground. He needed a key code to get in so I thought I would ride to the gate on my bike. I guess my mind was on getting there so I didn’t even think about how unsteady I had previously been on the bike.
I realized after riding nearly effortlessly there that I had remembered how to ride again— it was like something in my brain just “clicked.”
I was able to ride with only one hand on the handle bar and I could look back without swerving out of control. I was riding fast and veering around people and other obstacles— it was such a great feeling.
Sometimes I think my relationship with God is like riding a bike— I forget how to worship Him. I read the Bible, but I forget to think about how awesome God is. I pray, but I don’t really remember the One I am praying to. Often, I read the Bible and pray to God as if I was a “robot.”
When I spend more time in strengthening my relationship with God, then I remember everything about Him. I remember all the prayers He answered, and I can recall the many times He had guided and protected me.
I suppose it is easy to forget about God—the Israelites did, many times, in the Old Testament. I think that if I never stopped to think about God and what He means to me then I would forget about Him too.
I want to put as much effort in knowing God as I did in relearning how to ride a bike. I want to worship God like I did when I first became a believer—all I wanted to do then was to please God and to thank Him for everything.
My prayer now is, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you… Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you” (Psalm 51:10, 12, 15, NLT).
Dr. T's Food for Thought 