Week 454

Positive Post Sunday, November 9, 2025…. Week 454.  For many years, I have woken up early on Saturday morning to ride bikes with my buddies. We have affectionately titled our Saturday morning ride “The Bagel Ride”. Although our routes and distances vary (normally from 30 to 60 miles), we traditionally ride from Redlands to Riverside, stop for a bagel, share fellowship and a few stories and ride our way back to Redlands. Since we have been doing The Bagel Ride for so long, we have created many memories and stories along the route (a crash on this corner, winning the sprint at the city sign, forgetting to clip out and falling at this intersection…).

A few weeks ago, while on our “Basic” Bagel Ride, (that’s the shorter 30-mile route), another memory was created, perhaps the most meaningful one to date. I experienced a simple yet powerful act of kindness. There were only two of us on this ride, me and one of my riding buddies. While riding over to the bagel shop, we both caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a homeless person sitting next to an electric wheelchair trying to get up. Without hesitation, my buddy slowed down and said he wanted to go back and check on the wellbeing of the person. It turns out that it wasn’t a homeless person, but a lady with a disability riding an electric scooter on her way to visit her mother in the hospital. She had taken a shortcut through a dirt path and fell over. My buddy helped her up and I moved her scooter to the paved sidewalk. We made sure she was stable in her chair and watched her ride off. I told my buddy, “You just made my day”, and we got back on our bikes and rode to the bagel shop.

To my buddy this was “No big deal”, but to me it was a clear example of being an apprentice of our Lord in our daily lives. If it wasn’t for him, I would have missed an opportunity to do God’s work during my everyday life. It was also a reminder to me that I have much work to do. As I reflected on this experience, I recalled last week’s PPS where John Mark Comer noted, an apprentice doesn’t settle for admiration from a distance; they step into the dust of the Teacher’s footsteps, allowing every aspect of life to be reshaped by His way.

Each time I ride by that spot on The Bagel Ride, I am reminded of the power of being an apprentice of our Lord. 

Thank you, “Buddy”!

What opportunities do you have to walk in the footsteps of our Lord, Jesus? Do you take those steps!?

When the next opportunity to help others in need presents itself, will you admire others who help, or step into the dust of the Teacher’s footsteps and help?