CBC Worship Ministries: Devotional Blog

A couple of years ago I owned a bicycle that, I discovered, was definitely not a top-of-the-line model. Actually, it must have been really cheap. How do I know this? Because I could never ride the bike “no hands”. That’s right, the minute I took my hands off those grips, the bike would start to swerve and wobble. And of course the only the way to judge if a bike is any good is how long you can ride “no hands.” I then discovered that the wheels were not exactly perfect. They were a semblance of round; they looked kinda round; but in fact, that’s where the problem began. The wheels were not perfectly centered. (I now believe the bike had been “totaled”, and I got swindled out of the $25 I paid for it second-hand)

For some reason tires and me don’t get along very well. I can wear out a tire on car faster than you can go through a box of Kleenex when you’ve got the flu. The problem always seems to be the same: the tire gets out of balance and begins to wear down the tread unevenly. If I did what I was supposed to, and cared for the tires properly, they’d probably last through at least two boxes of Kleenex.

You see, balance requires having a precise center. When our tires have those little weights in the right places on the rim, the tire is precisely centered on the wheel and the tread wears evenly, the car runs efficiently, and the ride is ever-so-smooth. Balance in the Christian life requires having a precise center as well. Typically I refer to that as a Christian “worldview”. It’s having Jesus Christ be the center of your activities, home, work, decisions, relationships, thoughts, dreams and aspirations. In essence, Christ is at the center of everything. You won’t find any balance in your life if you don’t start here. This is where the problems always begin. I mean that. There is no issue in the Christian life that you cannot handle if Christ is at the center. But the moment we replace Christ with something – anything – else, our life will become unbalanced.

One of the clearest passages in the Bible that helps us understand the centrality of Christ is the letter to the Colossians. Take the time to read Colossians 1:15-23. Read it as if Paul was speaking directly to you. Paul eloquently articulates the centrality of Christ to everything that exists. . . and how you have been brought into the enveloping love of God through the work of Christ on the cross. Then turn the page and read chapter 3, verses 15-17. There is no mistaking Paul’s message: Let Christ be central in your life.

I got rid of that unbalanced bike pretty quickly. Not just because I couldn’t ride “no hands”. I got rid of that bike because I was more likely to crash. When your life is not centered correctly, you run the risk of crashing as well. This week, reflect on your life and ask God to show you where you need to do a course correction!