Just like riding a bike

He lost his balance.

While I was driving home from church, I saw him. He looked like a teenager- no longer a boy, yet not mature enough to be a man. A little gangly and awkward, he was riding his bike. He crossed my path just ahead of me, then I saw him again when I turned to go home.

That's when he fell. Somehow, he steered his bike just off the road and into a groove where his wheels were caught and the jolt of it all sent him soaring. He landed on a bed of pine straw among some newly planted landscaping.

I slowed down and rolled down my window, "Are you Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said in a teenager's voice, his cheeks red with embarrassment. Then he brushed himself off, got back on his bike, and continued to ride.

He did look fine. He suffered more from the embarrassment than from the fall itself.

I thought to myself, as I neared home, "That's how we are as believers."

Sometimes we are going along our walk and for some reason, we fall. We don't fall from grace. Grace is a gift eternal. No, we fall in our walk as Christians, not still babes in Christ, but not yet mature.

Maybe we've offended another, or maybe we find it hard to forgive the one who has offended us. Or we have fallen short in other ways- in our prayer life, our thought life, our devotional time with God. Or maybe all of these have happened along the way and we feel that we have failed.

The wonderful part is that we can brush ourselves off and get back on. Sometimes the pain of embarrassment as we have failed as a believer can be worse than the "fall" itself. Knowing that fellow Christians have seen us stumble, we often drop our heads in shame and pull away from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But, do you know what? Our sister or brother in Christ is there to help us up, to brush us off and to hold our hand along the way. If she offers her help in love, there really is no need for us to be embarrassed.

God is there to help us back up, too. In fact, He is first to arrive on the scene. Once we have accepted Jesus, God has promised to guide us into maturity in Christ and we must persevere-

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:4-5

God's Word also tells us that just as He promises to save us through the blood of Jesus Christ, He promises not to give up on us, leading and guiding us along the way, no matter how many times we lose our balance. We must keep on keeping on, keeping our focus on Jesus, the One who suffered so that we may live with Him in Heaven.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

You can do it, fellow believer. You can make it to the finish line. Keep your eyes on The One who has already won the race.