Lessons From A Stationary Bike

I was on my stationary bike the other day and I started thinking about the parallels between riding the bike and our spiritual journey. The things I am about to share would also be applicable to other pieces of exercise equipment, like treadmills, etc. However, I was riding the bike so we’ll use it in our discussion.

So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]; Colossians 1:10 (Amplified Bible, AMP)

Living and progressing in the Christian life has been compared to running a race or walking. There are many things we can relate to the believer’s life by looking at sports and exercise. My exercise bike is one such example of natural things that show us spiritual truths.

My bike provides a readout that shows me how I am progressing in my workout, displaying speed, distance ridden, time, calories burned, etc. Keeping my eyes on the screen helps me stay focused on what my goal is and how well I am doing in getting to my goal. As I maintain an awareness of my current level of activity, I can ensure I am staying on track to meet my target. In the same way, the Word of God is my readout, showing me how I am doing in pressing toward the mark. The Bible is compared to a mirror that shows us our spiritual condition (James 1:23), and as we continue to look at it, we can stay on track.

My bike has a number of different settings that can be adjusted. One setting is tension. As I increase the tension, the resistance increases, making it harder to pedal and stay at the same speed. However, if I use a higher tension setting and maintain the same speed and pedal the same amount of time that I did at a lower tension, I get more benefit from the workout. I develop stronger muscles and burn more calories. The same is true in the walk of faith. There will be times when there is more resistance against us. Because of life’s challenges and attacks of the enemy, we may find that the going is rough and it is harder to move forward. We may strain and sweat more than before. However, we will find that our spiritual development increases in times of adversity. Tough times can be the times when we grow the most if we make the quality decision to keep pressing on in faith.

The number of calories burned is one of the things displayed on my bike’s screen. For most people, a goal of exercise is to shed excess weight or to keep it off by burning enough calories to offset what they eat. In our spiritual lives, the same is true.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation, NLT)

Sin weighs us down and keeps us from progressing like we should. To continue to grow in our faith, we must make the choice to rid ourselves of whatever God shows us is hindering our walk with Him. As we make a quality decision to turn from activities, relationships and influences that block our progress, God is faithful to help us. As we drop the weight of sin, the race becomes easier for us to run.

With exercise, the longer we consistently maintain a daily pactice of working out, the stronger we become and the easier it physically becomes to exercise. As Christians, the longer we “work out” with God and stay consistent in our daily routine of the Word and prayer, the stronger our spirits become and the easier it is to live the faith life. Let’s commit to the serious, long term development of our spirits so we can run the race with endurance that God has set before us. Let’s decide that no matter what, we will never stop making spiritual progress. Keep pedaling, my friend; the destination is getting closer all the time.