When I was a child, there was an activity that I participated in on a regular basis:  playing with all abandon.  A choice and a privilege in our home.  As I think back upon the many ways we played, several images jog through my mind.

• Playing with my brother in the sandbox.
• Racing across the barnyard on our brand-new bicycles our parents gifted us with one sunny day.
• Hanging upside down on the end pole of the close-line.
• Pretending to be a cowboy, while playing with my brother on the rooftops of the hog houses.
• Climbing into the barn-loft to peer out the large window where dad’s hired hands fed the many bales of hay.

On & On & On, days of play come jogging readily into my mind of my days of childhood on our Indiana farm.  Nonetheless, one other ‘school’ activity also comes to mind:  running backwards without falling down on the gym floor.  Mr. Ahler was the PE teacher, one who was always prepared with organized activities of play:  parachute running, trampoline gymnastics, whiffle ball, and races of speed across the gym floor, both forward and backward.  I was a kid who played hard (yes, maybe you are not surprised) & a kid who always played to win (yes, maybe you are not surprised).  Therefore, Mr. Ahler would have us line up on the gym floor line with the direction to race to the other end, to touch the line on the floor, and then to run backward to the start line.  The first one back was the WINNER!

Well, I wanted with all my might to be first, back to the start line, to be the WINNER!

As I think back, oftentimes I would arrive to the end line in the gym first and then be headed back toward the start-line, running backwards, but then stumble and fall down on my backside. (Maybe this is partly the reason my lower back is bad today.)  Have you ever attempted to race, to run backward and not look back over your shoulder in the direction which you are running?  Well, let me tell you:

1. It’s nearly impossible to run in a straight line—backwards—and keep your eyes focused forward in the direction in which you have come.  Running in this explained fashion, without looking toward the way in which you are running is sure to cause you to fall straight down, landing hard on your buttocks.
2. It is also nearly impossible to run—backwards—without glancing over your shoulder as you go, without peering in the way you are running, even though the front of your body points in the opposite direction.  As you race, looking back overtop your shoulder, it is probable that your legs will become tangled, causing you to fall straight down, landing hard on your buttocks.  Yes, truly, racing in a forward-facing motion makes far more sense than racing while running backward.

Now racing backwards as a child did not always cause me to fall down hard on the gym floor, but often this is exactly what happened because our bodies were designed by our Creator God to run forward in the way we are to go.  We are designed to look with our eyes in the direction we are going.

Did we catch the spiritual truth God seems to be revealing here?