It has happened to all of us, going to a new school, new job, or joining a
club. We make new friends, and suddenly where our calendar may have been full,
now when asked “what are you doin’ Saturday,” the reply is as creative as
“nothing really, what are you thinking?” But a big step for many is when they
learn to ride, and seek out others who ride also. Maybe at the dealership,
maybe at a bike night, or just stopping to visit with another rider, suddenly
our whole social calendar has changed, and it is based upon the ride. Or rather
the motorcycle. When old friends call and want to hang out, they don’t get it
you want to ride, or just get a message to leave a message. Rides get longer,
the friends multiply, and pretty soon you find yourself in the brotherhood of
others who ride. You are one of them, and joined a minority, that once you may
have looked down on, but now you call precious. Your brothers and sisters who
ride, and now you look at things differently. You take the long way home when
riding, go places you never would have thought of before. You look at leather
and riding clothes now, where before you spent too much on golf clothes or that
shirt with the lizard on it. You care less about your hairstyle, helmet head
becomes a badge of honor, and you look for different “do rags” to fit the ride.
When the latest Cycle magazine comes, all other books and papers go unnoticed
until it is read, and suddenly reading maps is interesting, rather than letting
a GPS guide your trip in the car. New friends who get it and you don’t have to
explain why you ride to them, and when you do to others they don’t get it, and
soon fall from your BFF list of favorites. Whereas your peer group once was
composed of those who you worked with, golfed with, or some social organization,
now you hang out with doctors, lawyers, retired mechanics, laborers, salesmen,
and minimum wage earners-the common denominator is you all ride. A stronger
peer group is formed, the brotherhood is added to, and the old life style has
given way to life. “I wish I had learned to ride sooner.....” Wasted words on
those who don’t.
In Genesis 12 God tells Abram to do three things, “leave your country, your
people, and your father’s household and go to the land I show you.” When told
to leave his country, God wants him to leave his old life behind, just as we are
told by Jesus we are a new creature in Christ, leave the past behind. We may
not physically leave, but spiritually we do. Our old values based on things
change to value based on Christ, and we see things differently. The things we
once thought were important then we see as a burden now, money, fame, and
fortune may have seemed important once, we now see success in God’s eyes, and we
have values, rather than valuables. Abram was told to leave his family, which
in a spiritual sense form our morals. Just because our parents did is no longer
an excuse, we now see things in the spirit, and have freedom. Opinions and
traditions now have little value, and their influence where at one time was
heavy, now is burdensome. We pick up our cross, and follow Jesus, we renounce
what others may think, and now we are more interested in what God thinks, and we
want to think like him, he is the major influence any more. And the others in
your past just don’t get it. And just like riding, you cannot explain it, how
do you describe an infinite God in finite terms to a natural mind not in the
spirit? And soon their opinions become a burden, where the spirit brings
life.
Lastly God told Abram to leave his father’s house, to break ties with the
past. As a new creature in Christ, we now read the Bible and want to, we get
it. We attend church, Bible studies, and pray for others-openly. We no longer
depend on what we used to have, but now depend completely on God. The name
Jesus Christ means something, and as once it was cursed, now we revere it and
use it to worship. We have become part of a new covenant, a new family, and
have a new life. We depend on God to carry us to places where we cannot carry
ourselves, we depend on and in him, rather than our own talents, education,
traditions, and old friends. We are born again, and with Jesus Christ guiding
us via his spirit, we find life to be worth the living.
And so it was the day that Abram learned to ride. He found freedom in God
whom he had worshipped, but never knew personally. He saw others riding, but
never thought he would or could. And then God changed his heart, and he became
the father of a mighty nation. Suddenly and over time he wanted to ride with
God, and go where God directed. He found value in a relationship with him,
trust won out over tradition, old values, old friends, and old ways of doing
things. He was free from philosophy, and now had freedom to worship, as he was
guided by God and not his own desires. And the same thing happens when we come
to Christ, old friends and old values fade away, we find joy and peace we never
knew, and we see things through the eyes of Christ, instead of the eyes of
opinion. It can be as exciting as your first ride, and last longer, the
brotherhood found among bikers a far second to that with Christ and other
believers. And when you become that new creature, it is like the first time
they hear you ride, some are curious, some resentful, others just think you are
nuts. They don’t get the change from double knit to leather, the brotherhood of
bikers, or why you find freedom in it. They are still bound by laws and
misconceptions, they may be interested the same way we were, and just need to be
invited along for a ride. And told about Jesus. No preaching, just sharing
your ride, let the spirit change them as he does you. And soon they will
change, and then it is up to them to try to explain Jesus in terms others don’t
get.
If you happen to ride and know Jesus personally, you get it. If not no
words can change you, but our testimonies will influence you. The Holy Spirit
is telling you right now “you need Jesus,” and we all have a different
testimony. Share yours with others, and if you haven’t got one, today is the
day of salvation. Maybe for you. The first day Abram rode with God must have
been exciting and scary all at once. But as the miles passed, so did the fear,
the excitement grew and the rides became longer. Leave your past behind, new
roads lie ahead, only in Christ will you ever see them. Roads not found on any
GPS, roads only found like Abram did with God. It all starts that first day you
ride with him, for Abram it began the first day he left Ur, for me the first day
I found Jesus. Saying nothing is really saying no, don’t be a buddy seat sitter
all your life. Grab life by the handlebars and find the freedom in the spirit
others have who know Christ Jesus. And you won’t have to explain, just a nod
when we meet will do, we get it. The question is do you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25bikerbiker.blogspot.com