This past weekend our friends invited us to borrow an exotic
car to take on a road trip through the mountains. Matt and I are both huge car fans, so this was
a dream trip. We could not afford this
car as it’s more than our first house! But, John invited us to go and pay nothing. As we were driving through the Great Smoky
Mountains, I began thinking how this trip reminded me so much of God.
God is such a great God. Do you realize that all other “gods” - Budda,
Mohammad, Greek Gods of the past – all other gods have asked for us to do things
in order to be forgiven, saved or deemed righteous. Our God asked for nothing and He gave
everything by dying on the cross for us.
God is the only God that requires only for us to accept a free gift in
order to have a relationship with him. How
cool is that?
John gave us this Ferrari for the weekend. No strings attached. We did not pay any money, we did not sign any
contracts; it was a free gift. Not only that,
but John did not say, “here is your car, now go on your way.” No - he went on the road trip with us. He wanted to hang out and enjoy the weekend
together. That is so like our Heavenly
Father. He wants to give us a free gift
of salvation - something that we could never pay for on our own. And then, he wants to spend time in
relationship “on the road of life” with us.
On the flip side, Matt and I were so appreciative and
respectful of the gift that we took careful steps to protect this gift. Matt parked the Ferrari away from other cars
that could ding our doors. I made sure
that we kept the inside of the car neat and tidy. We treated this gift with appreciation and the
respect the gift deserved.
Are you treating your life – your gift of salvation with the
respect and love that God deserves? Are
you being careful not to “mess-up” this precious gift of life God has given? I, for one, am the first to not protect my
ears and eyes from sin. I was way more
careful to stay away from objects that might hurt the Ferrari than I am staying
away from temptation that might hurt my soul.
At every stop we made, strangers would come over to the car
and peer into the windows. They would stand back and admire this exotic car.
Often, they would ask what year the car was made or us how fast we had driven.
Lots of questions, lots of looking, but they never really hopped in the car for
a drive. Is this you on your Christian walk? Are you really on a journey with
God, or are you just checking Him out on Sundays? I don’t know about you, but the drive does not really start until I hop in and start the engine. It’s the same with Jesus. I cannot
be on the journey with Him unless I am spending time in the word, praying, and
living every moment on the ride with my Heavenly Father.
Sometimes we think of God as a being up in Heaven waiting for
us to mess up. That is wrong. God is on our side. God is pulling for us. God wants to have fellowship and do the
journey of life together.
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