This is my first bicycle. At age 5 my mom and dad bought me a brand new bike, and it was a doozy! No, my feet did not reach the ground. By lining up near the fence or telephone pole I could push off and pedal quickly to get moving. Then to get off I would put the brakes on and slowly pedal up to a post and wrap an arm around it. There was a steep hill in the back of our neighborhood which was a great place to coast down in fast speed. I do remember a major crash once that scraped the leather off the corner of my seat, as well as scraping multiple areas of me! Bummer. When it came time to move stuff out of mom and dad's house, I just couldn't part with my old bike. It is like an old friend with many memories associated with it. Now it's home is at the corner of the raspberry patch.
Walking through the garden near my old bike reminds me how fast life goes by. It reminds me of carefree childhood days. It reminds me of my parents' love. It reminds me of God's patience with me. It reminds me that the rusty things of this world don't last. It reminds me that I am on my way to heaven. It reminds me to pray for others. It also reminds me of the preciousness of life. Yes, I will leave my old bike in the garden as a great reminder of many things.
There are over 200 mentions of "remember" in the Word of God. (remembrance, memorial, remember) Do you think God wants to emphasize something? So easily we forget all the goodness of Jesus and all He is to us. In Joshua 4, as Israel was crossing over to the promised land, God commanded them to take 12 stones from the midst of the River Jordan to set up a memorial on the other side. When their children would ask, "What are these stones?", the people of Israel were to tell their children all that God had done for them parting the river and Red Sea. God wanted all the peoples of earth to know that the Lord God is mighty to be feared forever.
How could Israel ever forget the parting of the Red Sea? The same way we forget all the Jesus is and has done! We just plain forget in our busyness the main point of life. Peter mentioned several times in II Peter 1:12 - 15 that as long as he lived he would remind them and stir them up to grow in their faith and be fruitful. So yes, I will leave not only my bike sitting in the garden but other things as well. To remind me. To keep pressing on in thanksgiving to God. K.C.
