image from LinkedIn
On our early long bike tours , music played no role. Instead, we spent a lot of time in our minds: thinking, pondering, praying, questioning. A lot of major life decisions got determined to the gentle hum of the bike’s motor. Or, we’d play “Easy Rider,” set our throttle locks, stretch our arms to the side and flap them like birds, singing the tune, “If you want to be a bird.” No bird brain jokes, please. Other times, the four of us pretended slalom ski, curving between the white paint strips. Right turn, left turn, wash, rinse, and repeat. The rhythm of all four of us matching the others and creating a motorcycle serpent, held beauty brought grace.
Later, riding the ten miles to work on the 101 Freeway in Ventura County added a tweak. When the road was open I’d do the same, but instead of paint they had Botts Dots, raised hard plastic circles. Do the turn wrong, you’d get an unpleasant jar. To avoid them, I’d keep my eyes on them and try to miss them. Almost every time came that bump. Then a fellow biker gave me a tip: your body follows your eyes, so focus them on the open space. I tried it, and liked the smooth ride. God-created reality beat my intuition.
Counter intuitive, right? God matches that, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). God has knowledge and awareness that transcend ours So, when our logic and preferences contradict God, go with him. The Botts Dots tell us how: don’t ignore obstacles, but put our primary focus on the goal. The target. Then our spiritual body will take us where we want to go.
Our target is meeting God in heaven, so “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” (Hebrews 12:2). The Greek word fix means “to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something.” As we ride through life, be aware of problems, but don’t look at them. We focus on our goal: Jesus. We turn our thoughts and minds and eyes and ears on what leads us to Jesus.
Jesus: the creator of our faith. He completes our faith. The pain and agony of the cross gave him joy, because he saw it as a necessary step to connect his Father with humanity. After that, he kicked back with God with a cool drink, and they smiled. Isn’t that our goal? That gives us a great reason to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Kick Starting the Application
How consistently do you turn away from thoughts that distract from Jesus? How intentionally do you regularly fix your eyes on Jesus as your goal? Are you willing to suffer and sacrifice, like Jesus, to reach your goal?