Thud. Thud. Thud.

My feet patted out a rhythm on the pavement as I ran down a hill in my neighborhood. The pattern was soothing, even mesmerizing.

Quite a contrast with the pain brought on by my physical exercise.

I continued running down the hill, the sound of my footsteps the only noise in my immediate vicinity. The sun felt hot as sweat dripped down my forehead. The rhythm of my footsteps continued to daze me, and my eyelids slowly began to close.

I was falling asleep! There, in the midst of pain and a great amount of physical work, I was getting sleepy!

I would never have thought this was possible until it happened to me. But it is, I know that now.

As I continued my run, I began to think about how this event was reminiscent of many things which have happened in my spiritual life. Before, I have tried so hard to do good works and always do the right thing that I have lost my focus on the most important goal in life: staying awake.

Paul, in 1st Corinthians 15:10, says this:

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

How true this is! No matter what efforts we make, we must realize that we are what we are "but by the grace of God." We must never fall asleep to the spiritual workings of God in our life.

Sometimes, just as what was hard work for me (running) mesmerized me, the works which we perform in an effort to win God's favor can hypnotize us and send us into a state of independence - thinking that it's not so hard to be good on our own, after all.

Some people trust in their good works to keep them out of trouble - to keep them from doing bad things. There is nothing wrong with doing good and kindhearted deeds, but trusting in them in any way is the wrong method of going about life. Whether we are trusting our deeds to save us, make us happier, or even keep us from sinning, we are trusting in the wrong thing. Just as I thought it would be impossible to fall asleep during a good, hard run (something that I still don't quite comprehend), we sometimes think that it would be difficult for one to sin while preoccupied with good works.

But it is, and we need to be aware of this danger.

Trust in God, for he is the most important thing we can know in this world.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,

(Philippians 3:8)


**Oops, I just realized that I never finished my "Changes Since This Time Last Year" post. I'll have to finish it later...**