You Can't Run On A Treadmill In The Dark

…Well, at least I can’t.  I tried to a few years ago early one morning.  When we first got the treadmill we kept it in the bedroom because we were going to run/walk on it every day.  After it became a place to hang clothes and stack stuff we moved it to the garage where it now serves as a reminder of all the exercise we were gonna do.

Anyway, one morning, about 5:30 or so, I decided I’d run on the treadmill without turning on the lights.  I thought the light from the digital readout on the treadmill would be enough.  Don’t ask me why…I really don’t know why.  I just thought I’d run on the treadmill in the dark.  It didn’t work.

Somehow I got off track….tried to get back on…stumbled and fell…all over the place.  I fell on the treadmill, hit my head on the arm of the treadmill, landed on the belt of the treadmill, and got thrown off as if I was riding a bucking horse in a rodeo.  I hit the chest of drawers that was beside the treadmill and knocked off all the doo dads and pictures.  No, I didn’t have the emergency shut-off cord attached as I should have.  So, treadmill was still running while I was laying over by the bed at this time surrounded by debris looking like I had been hit by a small tornado.  All because I tried to run on a treadmill in the dark.

I faintly remember Crystal looking in on me asking if I was alright…shaking her head and closing the door.  I was alone and wounded and nobody cared.  (sniff, sniff)

All of this could have been avoided if I had just turned on the light.  I could have been running in the light.  In fact, this silly story could be a lesson for me and you in all aspects of our life.  We don’t have to run in dark, we can run in the light.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  Think of all the pain I could have avoided that morning on the treadmill if I had just turned on the light.  Think of all the disappointment, heartache, and hurt I could avoid if I would only allow God’s word to light my path. 

There are days when I don’t feel like reading the Bible.  There are days when I don’t want to read the Bible.  There are days when I’m tired, lazy, sleepy, busy, etc…  But, I have learned to read the Bible, every day, whether I feel like it or not.  Because, God’s word really does light my path…it really does help me see where I’m going.

I have never ran on a treadmill in the dark again.  And, I have committed to never let a day pass without turning on the light of God’s Word.  Are you interested?  Won’t you join me in the commitment to read the Bible daily…and listen as God speaks through it.  MM