Bike Day

Every Monday, my son’s camp has “Bike Day”. For Bike Day, the kids bring in their bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller-skates etc…and are given the opportunity to play with them at camp during the day. My son loves to take his bike or his scooter, but there are two recurring issues that seem to surface.

1. Every Sunday Evening, my wife and I ask him to totally prepare himself for the next day. Meaning that he must gather everything he needs for the next day the night before so that we are not scrambling around with him on Monday morning looking for “his” things.
2. In preparing for the Bike Day, if he wants to take his bike, he must coordinate that effort with me, because his bike will not fit in my wife’s car. She can only transport the scooter.

Last Monday, I worked from home. This means that I usually don’t leave the house until late in the afternoon, when it is time to pick up the kids. Being that it was Monday, it was also Bike day and of course through indirect actions and “reading between the lines” questions and answers with our son that morning, my wife had determined that my son wanted to take his bike (which meant that I would have to get myself together to take him and the bike to camp).

Taking him and the bike to camp would usually not be a problem for me, but in this instance, I was not moved to act upon my desire to make my son happy. Here is why…

My son ignored the house rules. He had not prepared himself the night before by getting the bike out and loading it into the proper vehicle.
He didn’t make his intentions clear to anyone with a request until it was too late (My wife was on her way out of the door)
He did not follow through and complete several of the household duties that he was responsible for.

Through this situation I was forced to take a look at myself and how the situation mirrors my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Many times I want my Father to move on my behalf, I want Him to give me the desires of my heart, I want Him to stop what He is doing to “come through” for me, I want Him to make provisions for me…etc. God loves me and there is no doubt in my mind that He does, but I think that because He loves me He tells me NO. Especially when I’m not walking in obedience.

While God’s faithfulness, love, grace and mercy are beyond human understanding, He does require that His children follow His will, His instructions and His example. God honors obedience and He wants us to choose to honor Him in our actions and not just our words. He wants us to honor Him because we love Him and not because we want what He can provide for us. God wants obedience that is driven by Love. We can’t ignore His will, His calling on our lives and His desires for us and expect Him to bless our “mess” and to “budge” just because we are crying out to Him.

God has a track record of blessing those who follow Him. These blessings may not appear to be blessings to the natural eye as they may be spiritual in nature (a better understanding of the Father and His ways, wisdom, power over spiritual enemies...etc), but their worth far out way any “blessings” that the world has to put forward because His blessings are eternal.

David wrote:
Psalm 5:12 (Amplified Bible)
12For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).

I have found in my life that when I have trusted my Father and have committed myself to His “uncompromising righteousness” He has blessed me. In addition my prayers have been less about what I “need or want” Him to do but more about how I can position myself to receive a “larger portion” of Him. Meaning that when I begin to focus on allowing Him to shape me, in many cases what I thought I wanted or needed seems to have a reduced significance in light of my desire to become more like Him.

Just like I advise my son to prepare Himself and to be faithful for “Bike Day”, I am persuaded that I too must position myself for the blessings and provisions available from my Father by preparing myself through practicing a lifestyle of obedience.

Are you prepared for your “Bike Day”?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
B