Stop Pumping and Start Healing

Happy Monday to our CFC Family!

Growing up in Thunder Bay as a teenager,  I always looked forward to this time of year—the moment I could finally pull my bike out of the storage shed after a long, cold winter.

Being the youngest in my family and the only boy, I had the unfortunate privilege of inheriting my older sister’s bike once she was done with it. With its gold sparkly paint and those unforgettable banana seats, you’d think I would’ve been thrilled to have my very own set of wheels. But since it was clearly a girl's bike, it didn’t do so much for my developing male ego.  As the saying goes, “boys will be boys,” and my friends didn’t hold back when it came to pointing out that my bike was missing the all-important crossbar—the one feature that, in our minds, separated a tough, masculine ride from a girly one. And believe me, they made sure I was aware of this!

When it came to our bikes, one thing we loved to do was make them look as cool as possible. To achieve this, we’d scavenge any bike parts we could get our hands on—wheels, handlebars, forks, seats—whatever we could find to give our rides a custom look. And I wasted no time doing exactly that to improve the appearance of my sister’s  bike.

I remember one bike in particular that I rebuilt completely from the frame up. I painted it all black, threw a small tire on the back, and a much larger one on the front. To anyone else, it probably looked like the strangest, most awkward contraption ever to roll down the street…..but to me, it was a work of art. My masterpiece.

Sure, it was nearly impossible to ride. The back tire was so small that the pedals scraped the ground with every push. But I didn’t care—I was proud of what I had created.

One of our favorite things to do with our bikes was build ramps at the end of our street and see who could catch the most air. With a vacant lot waiting at the bottom of the hill and just enough of a slope to pick up speed, it was the perfect setup for launching into the sky. Of course with these “Evel Knievel feats” also meant we collected our fair share of scrapes, bruises, and unfortunately a number of flat tires as well.

Man, I really hated those flat tires.  Most of the time, I wouldn’t bother trying to find the hole or patch it up. I’d just grab the pump and inflate it again, hoping the leak would somehow seal itself. It was a hassle to take the wheel off the bike, pull the tire off the rim, and patch the tube. If the hole was small enough, sometimes I’d go the whole summer just pumping air into it every day, pretending it wasn’t really a problem.

Just this morning I was thinking about those flat tire memories and it reminded me how often we do the same thing in our spiritual lives.

Instead of confronting the real issue, (sin, bitterness, wounds, unforgiveness, pride). we just keep "pumping it up."

We put on a smile, go to church, and try to hold everything together, hoping the problem will just go away on its own. But just like that leaky tire, unless we deal with the root of the issue, the slow leak will eventually leave us deflated.

The Bible talks about this in Hebrews 12:1,where it says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” It doesn’t say, “Pump it up and keep going.” It says to throw it off. Deal with it. Fix it.

Proverbs 28:13 reminds us, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

That there is healing in confession, and restoration in repentance.

Maybe today you're tired of pumping up that spiritual tire—tired of pretending everything’s fine when it's not. God doesn’t want you living with a slow leak. He wants to restore you completely, to patch what’s broken and fill you with His Spirit so you can ride freely again.

So ask yourself: Am I dealing with the real issue or just pumping air into something that needs to be surrendered?

          Have a blessed week and we’ll see you next Sunday!

Christian Fellowship Church

417 Hanover Street

Steinbach, MB R5G 0G0

Church Office: 204-326-2228

http://christianfellowshipchurch.ca

daniel.krebs@steinbachcfc.org

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