Tuesday, April 10, 2018

falling in love with your first cars-a product of Lesney































When bench racing and the subject of our first cars come up, we think of the first car we drove, or owned, usually in high school.  But looking back, our first cars go back a lot further, to when we were very young.  A whole generation of kids in the sixties and even today think Hot Wheels, but to my generation it was Matchbox cars, a precursor to Hot Wheels, Made in England.  Cars that were modeled after their real life cars, and cars we could associate with.  Beginning in 1953, and a run of 75 different ones, for the price of 50 cents per car it was a tough choice of which car to get with our allowance.  From police cars to taxis, to lorries, or trucks as they call them across the pond, you could soon build a collection, which was stored conveniently in a case you could buy, from Matchbox of course.  But us really cool guys, stored them in the garages they came in, the matchbox sized boxes, with the picture of the car on it, and “A Product of Lesney,” beneath it.  Cars that today are collectible, a company that sold out to Hot Wheels, and are still being sold for under two dollars.  Such a deal, and of course adding the villages, storage boxes, and special editions, your collection is in danger of never being complete.  All based on a car that could easily fit in the pocket of your jeans.  Such are the trials of your first cars...
Many a Saturday morning was spent at Play Fair, looking at, or really into the March Box display, the pictures on the boxes making it tough to decide which car to buy next.  My favorite was a British Racing Green Jaguar D model, and the trucks.  Loved the trucks, and soon police cars, ambulances, garbage trucks, and others were added, and your own town was soon created.  The games we would play when visiting a friend’s house, bringing our cars along, and having to obey his traffic rules.  Sharing each others cars, careful not to damage them, but Matchbox toys seemed indestructible.  I wish more of the memories of Matchbox toys were shared, now being highly collectible, the toy value and the times shared having fun with them is not mentioned, only the value, the condition of the box, and more money if never out of the box.  To us they were just toys, to me they still are and always will be.  Put a price on your childhood memories, and they begin to lose value.  Such are trials of your first cars....
It is unknown how many of those Matchbox cars influenced our first real cars when old enough to drive.  But without a doubt, they made an impact on us when we were young.  Sadly too many dreams end up in minivans, or four door sedans, not the cars of dreams when we were kids.  As fuel efficient as our Matchbox cars were, we never considered the price of gas and repairs, upkeep and keeping them clean.  Too many were cast off or thrown away and replaced with newer models, the list always growing, but somehow we always kept a few special ones, cars that were never shared, and only played with on special occasions.  They had a special value, they were where our dreams of the road were kept, and where we could go as fast and as far as we wanted, with no speed limits or laws.  And then we grew up, or at least got older, and a new reality set in.
Picture if you will Aaron and Moses coming out of the tent, and the Shekinah glory that filled the area.  Over a million people gathered, and not a bad seat to be found.  A consuming fire burns up the sacrifices in a flash, and all the people fall on their faces and worship God.  A shout of awe, and victory goes up, and knowing God is in their midst.  A time that seems to last for an instant, but that God has designed to last forever.  A time when we are all children, yet all priests, or ambassadors of Jesus Christ at the same time.  That is the character of Jesus in our lives, as the spirit guides us and inspires us.  Like the Matchbox cars that shaped us, the spirit shapes us also, and soon the character of God is revealed in us.  We never stop being a child of God no matter our age, acknowledging him as Father, just like when we were kids.  Yet religion for many has stolen that relationship, encouraging us to mature, to memorize, to learn, but rarely to share or apply the things of God.  The box we came in may look like new, but inside is different, as we rot away, and when the box of our lives is open, it is found vacant.  Or broken, not from use, but from non-use.  Not as God designed us, but as we were instructed.  How much different the sacrifices we think we make today tell us about our relationship with God, as opposed to that day in the temple.  How many of us if we were a toy, would we want to play with?  Would we share with our friends?  Is our relationship with God as pretty as the box we portray everyday?
The objective of God is to enter our lives, and to be a light shining from them.  The glory of God is to be represented in our lives, not just when gathering together.  Just like visiting a friend and bringing our cars along, we had a new set of rules and decorum, how many of us leave Jesus at home, or does he even make it that far, left in a pew at church?  The Jews that day experienced the Shekinah glory, but the glow would soon wear off, and their 40 year trek would begin.  Are you on a trek because you think the glory of God has left you, but is it really that you have left God?  Do you still have the same joy as the day you were first saved, how do you remember Jesus?  Is he as precious as the first cars you ever owned?  Memories are not a bad place to spend time, but not where we will spend eternity.  Look forward to the time of his returning, but enjoy today first.  The toys of yesterday are the sought after collectibles of today, don’t let your relationship with Jesus go the same route.  My first cars allowed me dream of my first real car, Jesus in my life gave me a hope and a future, and allows me to still be a kid, and to still call God Dad.  Abba Father, or Daddy.  Maybe a part of your relationship with him that needs some work.  He left the door open to come back, and to stay.  Such are the trials of our first cars, welcome back, playtime is never over for a child of God.  I wish I had kept my Matchbox cars, fortunately I never let go of Jesus.  Matchbox cars were so simple, if only we knew Jesus the same way....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com