Day Four - doing well

Well another day with beautiful weather. Got up to 83 degrees and sunny, sunny, sunny. Of course it was the same back in Ohio, but not 83 degrees. Put in 40.5 miles in today and averaged 15.2 mph. I am very satisfied with that. The ride took 2 hours and 40 minutes. I felt good today though. I road through Westmorland and Brawley today, still riding on SR 78. Brawley is a town of almost 25,000 people. I hope to be out of California and on into Arizona on Saturday. The 40.5 miles we put in today puts us just east of the Algodones Dunes. These dunes run more than 40 miles long going north to south and are beautiful. Some of the mountains of sand reach higher than 300 feet. In the middle of the dunes is Osborne Overlook which is not far off of SR 78. One interesting note is that there is no water available through the area of the dunes. I thank God for Lyle and the pick-up truck hauling all the water I need for each days ride.
Today was a little more of a struggle to keep it going, which gave me much to think about as I struggled along. I couldn't help but think about the next thing Paul talks about in Phil. 3:13, "straining forward to what lies ahead." Today, I strained a bit. I couldn't help but think about the things that lie ahead - I am so looking forward to getting to the state line into Arizona; looking forward to getting a hot shower, looking forward to writing this blog. But Paul does not say "looking forward to." No, he says, "straining forward." That comes from a greek word that we get our word "agonize." Have to ask the question, Is heaven worth agonizing for, working for, putting forth our best effort for? I am not saying working for or agonizing for our salvation. No, we are given that as a gift because of his love by grace. But once saved, is heaven worth; to be in the presence of the Lord, our best effort in all we do for Him. 1Cor. 10:31 says, "Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God." I look forward to spending eternity with Him but am I willing to agonize now, to strain forward to what lies ahead. Then remember, it is a movement "forward." The christian life is not a cycular pattern, or back and forth, or up or down. No, it is a forward movement. If I rode 10 miles forward and then went back 5 miles, it would take me a long time just to get across California, let alone across the whole country. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it to the full." The full life Christ came to give isn't lived going forward and backwards. The full life He came to give us is lived moving forward. I thought a lot about that today and it kept me going. I want to be a bike rider who goes forward as best I can and I want to be a christian who goes forward as best I can for and in the name of Christ Jesus.