Ride On

I have been thinking a lot about bicycles lately, and this morning God showed me that people are like bicycles.

The first thing God told me is that He doesn't make junk. Every person He makes is a top-of-the line bicycle, not something you would buy at Wal-Mart. However, He has designed each of us differently. By way of illustration, I found a couple of the best bicycles in the world. First I found the Ellsworth TiRuth, a beast of a mountain bike made out of Aerospace Certified Drawn Seamless titanium tubing and hand-picked components. The tires are made out of two different types of rubber, a firm one down the middle for speed and a softer one on the sides for better grip. Every inch of this bike is designed to take punishment and offer maximum control as the rider hurtles down the side of a mountain.

Imagine if, every day when you woke up, you saw somebody riding this bike on the sidewalk to work. It never gets so much as a layer of dust on it, to say nothing of the dirt and mud and rocks it was meant for. Of it's 21 precision-set gears, 1 of them is being used. The big knobby mud tires are getting worn down by the cement. And the odds are, the rider is much less comfortable than he would be on a cheaper bike made for street riding.

Is there something wrong with the worksmanship of the bike? Not at all. It just isn't fulfilling it's purpose for existence. A lot of people are like that bike.

Then I got an even more disturbing picture in my mind. Let's look at the Trek Equinox TTX, made by the company that outfitted Lance Armstrong. It's sleek gray frame weighs 18.4 lbs, thanks to a top secret carbon formula. It is the latest in a long line of designs resulting from endless testing in a wind tunnel. It has sacrificed nothing in the pursuit of speed.

Imagine this bike careening through a mountain forest. The first rock would bend the front tire almost in two and send thousands of dollars worth of precision components flying into the air. A small boulder would shatter the fork and the aerodynamic frame would wrap itself around a tree at high speed, pitching the rider over a cliff.

In my life, I have seen a lot of "mountain bikes" on "sidewalks". I have also seen some bikes, intricate designs of God, destroy themselves in places God never meant them to go. The good news for the former is that their lives don't have to be as meaningless as they seem- there is a reason for the meaninglessness and it is called a faithless life. The good news for the later is that God, the Ultimate Designer, is also the Ultimate Fixer.

For me, this little analogy helps me to remember when I look at people how precious they are and how sad God feels when he looks at them and sees them living a life He never intended. And it challenges me to continue pursuing the paths He wants me to ride.