I get made fun of quite often for the illustrations I use and how I act them out in front of crowds. Inside I chuckle because it just shows that people remember the illustration.
The performance treadmill is one of my favorite illustrations. I act like I’m on a treadmill and then ask how far it gets me. People reply, “Nowhere.” I then tell them how it just works up a sweat and if you stop running, you actually get hurt pretty bad.
For years, this described my Christian life. I had no rest. I had no soul rest. I was constantly trying to win God’s approval with how I lived and of course I could never stack up. I would either dwell in the land of despair if I was not doing well, and if I was doing alright, I would live in self-righteousness. Despair was my land more often.
Then, in 1997, God awakened my heart to start understanding what the finished work of the cross really was and how that applied to my life. I was not called to live to win God’s approval, but rather, God’s approval through Christ was already mine and that should be what stirs me to live.
So my motivations began to change. God continues this work in me today.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
Do you find yourself on the performance treadmill today? Do you find yourself trusting in the finished work of the cross? Is the center of your motivation for living that God loves you and longs for what is best in your life? The best gifts God can give us are those things that shake us to the core so that we will find our greatest treasure in Him alone and not in the passing things of this world.
So take a breath and reflect on the cross. Thank God for what He has done and ask Him to help you live in that reality today.
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