Column Post by Lakin Easterling
Bicycles: the one thing in the world that can make a kid feel like a million bucks and turn an adult into a child remembering the rides of years past.
Maybe it’s the rhythmic movement of pumping legs and pushing feet, the sound of wheels on pavement crunching over leaves and sticks, the constant bumping ups and floating downs of dips in the sidewalk or hills or roots peeking out of cement. Maybe it’s the wind, the speed, how it seems to envelope and carry you all on its own, like your efforts at pedaling are only trying to keep up with where the breeze is taking you.
Grace is like that.
It is the constant wind in your soul, the fluidity of movement you feel when you know you’ve done nothing to deserve such a fruit-sweet moment, and you’re given it anyway.
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —of whom I am the worst.” ~1 Timothy 1:15
Sometimes we may feel like all our pushing and pedaling is creating the movement, but in reality the air is already there. It is our revelry in it that gives us freedom to fully enjoy it.
Did you hear that, dear heart? Grace is already yours, already present for every single person whether they see it, feel it, hate it, or love it. Grace is a gift, paid for centuries ago with the blood of the One Who could have held a grudge against us, Who could have held onto anger and rage and apathy towards our hopeless position. We had a cut in connection, caused by our own lust, anger, greed, and selfish ambitions, and He was well within His right to let us stay that way. While we were still sinners, grace was given. Before we knew we needed it, it was already given.
Grace. God is full of it, bursting with it, wanting us to hold it with all the life He means for us to enjoy—because of His abounding and limitless love for us.
And so we have the option to either see it for what it is {surrounding our every step, even the wayward ones}, or we can choose to keep it invisible and motionless. We can ride it, enjoy it, breathe it in deeply—or let it be still and hot and humid, begrudging grace when it’s our own neglected acceptance of it that is hindering our ability to live abundantly.
Did you hear it that time?
It is our acceptance of what is already ours that brings us the freedom to pluck from the day every ripe and sweet berry God has planted and tended and grown for us.
All you have to do is say, “Yes!”, jump on your bike, and take that breeze to the horizon.
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P.S. We’d love to know your thoughts, so please be sure to comment below. Each of our commenters will be entered in a drawing for our current FREE book giveaway, Mothers & Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship by author Teena Stewart.
Lakin Easterling is a wife, mother, writer, and avid reader. She spends her days chasing her toddler, Belle, and conversing with the elderly who are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. She loves surprise coffee dates with her husband Luke, texting novels to her best friend, Laura Hyers, and being a college student. She dreams about being brave enough to get a tattoo, and believes in the healing power of a good cup of coffee. Her favorite nail polish is Sail Away by Milani. She blogs at http://threadingsymphonies.wordpress.com.
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