I’ve never been a fan of treadmills. You can run hard, break a sweat, and spend thirty minutes staring at one wall. When you get off, you’re in the exact same place you started—chest pounding, lungs screaming for air—looking at the same wall you sprinted so hard toward while you were on the machine. I prefer running outdoors, gaining ground when I exercise. I like moving forward.
That treadmill picture comes to mind when I read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The church had gotten stuck in a cycle of sin and idolatry. So Paul pointed them back to the golden calf story from Exodus to warn them about spinning their spiritual wheels but going nowhere.
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
1 Corinthians 10:6–7 (ESV)
The Israelites were busy, but none of it produced true worship or devotion to God. It was a cycle of nothing. Paul warns us not to fall into the same trap of treating our walk with Jesus lightly, running hard but not moving forward in faith.
Israel had just seen God’s power at work. He had delivered them from their slavery in Egypt and had spoken his law from Mount Sinai. But instead of worshiping the Lord, they turned to a god made by their own hands. Their “play” looked alive and energetic, but it was empty. It was noise void of worship.
The word “play” here doesn’t simply mean fun. It hints at revelry, carelessness, and immaturity. They weren’t taking their sin seriously. Their energy was spent, but their lives weren’t moving forward with God.
We can easily fall into the same treadmill cycle. We can wake up, eat, drink, go to work, scroll through social media, go home, and repeat. We can stay busy, but not grow in Christ. We can fill our schedules and lives with things that are not God, and our souls remain empty.
Jesus calls us to more. The Christian life is not supposed to look like we are spinning our wheels and going nowhere, but moving forward, bearing fruit, and being faithful. So stop playing. God does not want your half-hearted devotion or empty cycles of busyness. He wants your whole heart. Don’t get stuck in the cycle of eating, drinking, and chasing distractions. The way off the treadmill is to take your walk with Jesus seriously: to seek him first, worship him truly, and lay everything else aside.
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are those who devote themselves fully to Christ, for they will not run in vain.
Grant Turner is the editor of the Barnesville Buzz and an educator, coach, and writer based in Barnesville, Georgia. He shares stories that bridge community, faith, and personal growth. In addition to teaching and coaching, Grant is Director of Musical Worship and a Sunday School teacher at New Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia. He lives in Barnesville with his wife, Haley.
