Changing Gears

   Now that the weather here in Michigan has become more mild (relatively speaking!), people are spending time outside doing yard work, walking their dogs and riding their bikes. I have finally been cleared by the hip surgeon for regular activities and have found that riding my bicycle is easier than walking at this stage of the healing process.

   The neighborhood we live in is great for biking with many very nice streets to explore and fairly light traffic. When there was a notice about a bike club forming at the Senior Center close to our house, Al and I decided to sign up. Every Tuesday night, the “Slow Rollers” group, as it is called, would be taking a different route through the surrounding area going anywhere from 7-10 miles total. It sounded like fun and not too hard, especially when the leader promised that we wouldn’t be going at breakneck speed.

   On the first Tuesday evening, we lifted the bikes onto the bike rack on the back of the car and drove over to the center, where several other people had congregated. All of us had the same intentions of getting exercise, meeting people and staying upright on the bicycle the entire time! Our leader, Myron, who had just retired from engineering, was an avid cyclist. He was brave, agreeing to lead a group of about a dozen seniors whom he had never met before through busy city streets at the dinner hour. Well, we did have to sign a disclaimer, just in case!

   It was a fairly breezy evening, with the wind blowing against us on the way back to the center. Surprisingly, the terrain was not exactly flat, hardly noticeable when riding in a car; however there were enough inclines to give us a good workout. My mountain bike, with its wide tires, worked just fine as we maneuvered around and through potholes in the  roads. With the combined headwind, somewhat hilly terrain and broken up asphalt, I was thankful that there were twenty-one gears on my bike! 

   When Al and I bought the bikes years ago, I had some qualms about all of the gears and stubbornly insisted on just using one of them. He patiently explained how they worked and demonstrated how to change them many times over until I finally got the idea.

   Now that I am used to them, the idea of twenty-one gears isn’t intimidating at all; in fact, it would be nice to have a few more! Staying in just one gear was hard work. There were many times in the past when I would have to stop about halfway up a steep hill and walk the bike to the top. That seldom happens these days.

    Using the gears on my bicycle reminds me of learning to live by God’s grace. We begin the Christian life with faith by choosing to accept the gift of His son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. We continue by surrendering control of our lives and trusting in God’s grace and mercy daily. Maybe it’s time that we begin changing gears by depending upon Him more, putting full faith and confidence in Him. He loves us!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:9-9 NIV

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV