When Rip Van Winkle woke up after a 20 year nap, things were different.
Imagine if you would, only a five year nap, and falling asleep in 1968, and
waking up in 1973. If you rode motorcycles, you may have fallen asleep dreaming
of a new Bonneville, and where you were going to get the $1450 to buy it. That
Norton looked good, so did the BSA, Harley Sportster maybe, but buying anything
from Japan, that was out of the question. The Honda 450 was the biggest, we
dreamt of big bikes. Something that told the world about us, we wanted
something cool.....and in our dreams we rode them all.
Then like Rip, we woke up, and it was 1973. The Bonneville was now a 750,
wow. No more BSA, what happened? Norton now had a Commando with a Combat
motor, but wait a 1000cc Sportster? Didn’t the ad say it would part the hair on
your chest, and if you didn’t have any, put some on it? But what was this AMF
on the tank? Honda now had a 750 with four pipes, and disc brakes, but what was
this thing called the Mach III, and what was a Z-1? Yamaha made a 650 4 stroke,
Suzuki a water cooled bike, and BMW’s had a tank that looked like a toaster, and
had some performance. Was I dreaming, or was this real? Was that really a
third cylinder on the Triumph called Trident? And where would I get the $2000
to buy the bike of my new dreams.....
But maybe my parents were right, I should be more practical, maybe buy a
car. The Road Runner with a 440 had 390 hp, now what was this 250 they
advertised? An SS454 sounds cool, but with only 265 hp? Ford’s 351 with 255hp,
and the GTO, it got huge and ugly. Maybe a Z28, but at over $4000, I barely
make that a year. And after that test drive, they don’t seem as fast, although
the salesman tells me that the numbers now are net instead of gross, yet they
seem slower. Probably just salesman talk....
And what’s this, the Mets are in the World Series, again? World Champs in
1969? Nixon is president, well at least Viet Nam hasn’t changed. Too bad.
Skirts got shorter, but who can afford the prices? Maybe I was safer in my
dreams, all this makes me tired, I think I’ll take a nap. Five years sure made
a difference......and no gas crisis yet to remember. The world had changed, but
have I too? Somehow the prices ain’t right, I feel out of place, a stranger in
a strange land called home. Guess I’ll just keep my old 55 Chevy to drive,
rebuild the old Triumph Tiger. They’re cheap and I can fix them myself......if
only we knew then what we do now.
Paul writes to Timothy at the end of his life, “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Strong words from a
man who literally changed the world through Jesus Christ. How different his
life was before Jesus and then after. From a chief prosecutor and persecutor,
remember he held the coats of those that stoned Stephen, to writing most of the
New Testament after meeting Jesus on the road, in just a few years his life and
whole world had changed. He had fought the good fight, the one that counts, he
was saved and had done as the Lord directed him. He had finished the race, the
life of being a Christian in a fallen world. Of overcoming it through Jesus,
and leaving religion behind. Every moment of his new life in Christ was spent
contributing to the goal, and not of participating in the world. Living in the
spirit instead of the flesh, as all Christians are called to do. Serving God
instead of ourselves and our flesh. And finally kept the faith, living daily by
the spirit, the spirit revealing the mysteries of Christ to him, depending on
him and counteracting evil. This faith that tells us about ourselves and who we
are in Christ, that explains why the world is how it is and how to live in it,
but not become part of it. He had protected that which God had entrusted to
him, he used it as God directed, not for his own selfish needs. He has warned
us to not go astray, of false teachers and teaching, how to be wise, and to seek
the spirit to guide us. He has shown redemption, forgiveness, and commitment,
and had finished the race, after fighting the good fight through faith in Jesus
Christ. He gave up all he had to inherit all the things of God. If only I
could be like that....
Maybe a trip back to the first day you were saved and to today may be in
order. Was that day your best day, or have you grown in God’s grace? Do you
look forward to heaven, but trust God while still here on earth? When we
finally fall asleep to this thing we call death, are you assured of where you
will wake up? Do you have the faith in Christ to be assured of heaven? Do you
trust him to take you there, but fall short in trust for daily needs? Are you
involved in the daily battle of faith, or standing on the sidelines holding
someone else’s coat? Are you going to finish the race, are you fighting the
good fight, where is your faith and where have you placed it?
Rip VW’s world changed in 20 years. How has Jesus changed yours? Are you
awake or asleep? The only way to know you were asleep is when you wake up. So
good morning, God has a bright new day waiting for you. Will you join him?
Others may mock you, make fun of you, but somehow it will all be worth it. I
mean while you were asleep for five years, the Mets won the World Series, now
that’s a miracle. From last to first, if it worked for them, shouldn’t it work
for you? Man walking on the moon? Woodstock? No more Beatles? Wake up from
your spiritual slumber today, and enjoy life in Christ. The race continues, the
battles continue, but so does Jesus. Choosing him should be simple, at least as
simple as to what bike to buy....now if I only had hair on my chest to
part......or should I just keep my old 55 Chevy. At least it’s paid for, it may
be used, but who knows, someday.....
love with compassion,
Mike
mattehw25biker.blogspot.com