The Proof Is In The Pudding

I walked in the rain a couple of mornings this week. One day I knew it was likely to get me. I was walking right into it. It was just a matter of how long before it started (not long).

It’s summer, so unless it is fully storming, it feels pretty good for a while. Once my shoes and socks are soaked though, it feels less than great. That wasn’t my chief concern that day. I knew I wouldn’t melt or struggle. I was more concerned about my phone.

Phones don’t like to be wet. I didn’t have any way to keep it dry out there. My mind had settled on how I could best protectively hold it and on wondering how much it could take before I did damage to it when the Spirit interrupted to say, “you don’t need it.”

But I do. I track my miles, both on the day and cumulative for the year. I track my time and pace. I often listen to music and/or podcasts. That day I was listening to hymns. Yes, hymns. I find them remarkably soothing, and the lyrics are deep. I need that, right? Wrong. Well, at least in this case.

The message God was reminding me of that day was that none of that stuff matters. If I walked three miles in the rain, my body would be aware of it. God would be aware of it. It doesn’t matter if anyone else knows about it or not. On the flip side, I could manually manipulate the numbers and edit them to say I had walked five miles instead of three. But God and my body would know that, too.

The reasons I walk are to exercise, to clear my mind, and to talk to God. All of those things would still happen regardless of whether I had my phone or told anyone about it. Having numbers, whether accurate or inflated, documented in some way doesn’t change the actual miles I’ve walked.

That’s a simple example, but while I was out in the rain, I passed several members of the high school cross country team on a run. This is a small community, so I recognized some of the kids as soccer and basketball players as well. That jogged my memory of running with my high school cross country team to condition for basketball. Suddenly, the phone analogy made more sense.

Perhaps only their families and I knew those boys were out running in the rain instead of taking the day off. I bet they didn’t call up their future opponents to tell them. Deep into basketball season when they’re in good shape and holding up late in games, people will know they did the work.

God already knows, and the fruit we produce will ultimately inform people of what we’ve been doing consistently – through rainy days. If we are staying connected to God, it’s going to show. In John 15:5 (NIV) Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We don’t need devices to track our progress or to share with the world. We don’t need to convince third parties that we’ve been doing the right thing when no one was looking. We don’t even need it as proof for ourselves. When we’re aligned with God and His will, everyone who needs to know will. Most importantly, God knows, and you know. You will produce fruit in the proper season and people will know enough about how you’ve spent your days.

If we read on in John 15 to verse 6, we see what happens when we are out of alignment. “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” 

It doesn’t take long to see which athletes haven’t been training. The ones that haven’t, wither quickly. Christians who haven’t really been in relationship with Christ will eventually tell on themselves as well. They just don’t hold up. And they don’t produce fruit.

We can claim lots of things, but as that old expression goes – the proof is in the pudding. I can tell you that I’ve been training for a marathon but if you watched me attempt to run one, you would know better. My body would know better.

Outcomes usually speak for themselves. God and I know the quality of my relationship with Him. That’s all that really matters. If it is what I claim it to be, you’ll see the fruit of it. The same applies for anyone. May we all be more concerned with deepening our relationship with God than tracking stats and measuring outcomes.