pebbles

It only took me two minutes to realize I had something stuck down there. My workout routine includes some time on the eliptical machine, but my stride was painful as I kept feeling this discomfort on my left heel. When I took my shoe off, I found a little pebble that was the culprit. My gym shoes stay in the bag when I am not at the gym, so how did this rascal sneak into my stuff and disrupt my stride? Well, I really don't know the answer, but I know enough to stop running when every step hurts.

Pain can be a warning to us that something needs to be adjusted. I thought of all the times I needed to make adjustments in my life. Usually there was some accompanying discomfort that triggered the needed changes. The Lord prods us sometimes to make changes by making our lives less than comfortable. Sometimes it is as easy as removing the pebble of sin or worldliness from our lives that brings a needed change. Sometimes we need to just stop and fix that little thing which hurts us.

The Bible says that it is the little foxes which spoil the vineyard. I think that means we need to attend to the little nuisances in our lives so the end is better than the beginning. We know which nuisances to fix, and we know which heel is hurting. We know how to lay aside the little sins that so easily beset us.

Let us adjust our stride today and remove the pebbles from our shoes so we can run toward our destiny in God. Let no little fox ruin your vineyard, and let no pebble cause you to stumble in your walk of holiness before the Lord.

Mark