May the celebration of joy accompany your journey.

Why do swimmers swim? Why do runners run? On more occasion than one I’ve questioned why anyone would put themselves through such agony as pushing the peddles of a bicycle over mountains and deserts for miles on end? Is it primarily to win a race? Do they do it for the satisfaction of accomplishment; or recognition? I have concluded even if a prize awaits, there has to be more to it than that. Though football players face multiple injuries, they keep going for the LOVE of the game. 

If there is no joy in the process, how can there be joy in the reward? 

The journey between here and the reward in a Christian’s life is far from easy. How often do we complain along the way? Mountains to climb, thirst through the desert, and wounds bring many to the point of giving up entirely. 

So what is the motivating accelerant that holds you to the road? For the pleasure of Jesus walking with you keeps you going. It is the love of being a Christ follower that motivates you. There is a great satisfaction in experiencing more and more of who He is and becoming like Him that makes any trial worth enduring. The value of the prize isn’t mansions or streets of gold; it is more of Jesus. Seeing Him face to face, holding His hand, learning secrets the universe has hidden, and the complete story of the cross.

Allow Jesus the freedom of walking beside you today and enjoy the process of the journey.

1 Corinthians 13:12 New International Version (NIV) 
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 Revelation 21:1-3 New International Version (NIV) 
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.