Friday afternoons are not the place to be on So Cal highways. Really any
day that ends in Y qualifies, but Fridays after lunch are the worst. Knowing
that, I still frequent such roads as the PCH in Huntington Beach and Corona Del
Mar, where you can see all the pretty people in their exotic cars. To many
seeing a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, or McLaren is a big deal, there they
are like Chevies used to be, quite common. But even though I cannot afford to
even pay attention sometimes, the most exotic car and me on a motorcycle share
the same thing-traffic. The difference is I can lane split, while the half
million dollar, 200+ mph supercar sits idling in traffic, next to old Toyotas
and rusted out pick ups. Too completely different ends of the automotive
spectrum, yet both with one thing in common, stuck in traffic. Traffic, the
great equalizer, the one that defies speed, financial status, brands, and
performance. Moving along at the speed of stopped, as a bicyclist races
by.....
There was a time when death and taxes were the common denominator, but
today health has replaced them. In the ER last month for pneumonia, there were
different ethnic groups, kids from 2 to 92, and men in suits or blue jeans
looking like they just came out of the field. Maybe 30 different people in the
room with one thing in common, poor health. Just like the guy I passed sitting
in traffic in his red Ferrari, a group with one thing in common, health and
traffic, or lack of such. Our tax structures may be different, and we all will
have our last ride in the same type of vehicle, a hearse, but we are more alike
than we care to think. Maybe the only difference between a red Ferrari and a
red ambulance is one is stuck in traffic, the other racing through it. If only
we got to choose which ride...and when.
But we do get to choose where we end up in eternity. There was a time we
all were dead in our sins, we are all born into it, only in Jesus are we offered
the way out of it. A simple choice you would think, pain and suffering or
happiness and health, yet many defy the logic and argue. Or deny, or come up
with their own religion to satisfy themselves. But the truth is still the
truth, no matter if you accept it or not. You may be the Ferrari in life, and
be stuck in the traffic of religion and not know it. I have wealth, my health
is good, my two homes are paid for, but yet stuck in traffic of the world, where
you cannot buy your way out. Even when lane splitting, we all have to stop when
the light turns red, it doesn’t care what you drive, it means stop. Jesus is
different when he says stop, he offers you mercy and grace to fill the void, and
a companion for the car pool lane to heaven. You may have worked to get where
you are in life, but you cannot work your way into heaven, for eternal life is a
gift, one you cannot purchase or lease. So much for a new lease on life...but
you can get a new life in Christ. Hell was made for the devil and his fallen
angels, but due to sin we are condemned to it. But a reprieve from Jesus sets
us free and into eternity free and clear. If only navigating traffic was so
easy....
There is a beauty to being made alive in Christ, for the old sins are
passed away, and we are new creatures in him. Alive in Christ, what a rush! No
more worry, no more wondering, you know for sure and about heaven. Every true
Christian has this experience, and yes we will have times of discouragement, and
of bad health, and being stuck in traffic. But we will never turn back. Next
time you get stuck and think being a Christian is hard, try turning back and see
how tough life really is. We cannot do it because we are alive in Christ Jesus,
and no matter the situation, we know he has overcome it, and it will all work
out for our benefit. Even the guy in the Ferrari stuck in traffic has the same
chance as the beggar at the light. We are all saved the same way, through faith
in Jesus Christ, a gift so that no one can boast. Something you cannot work
towards, or study your way into, or even keep the Ten Commandments and achieve.
A gift....will you accept it?
Or you can sit in traffic, wondering when or if ever it will break up and
flow again. No one likes to be stuck in traffic, or be stuck in the ER, we want
to do our will, yet we find when we pray “thy will be done,” “we can have on
earth as it is in heaven.” Something to consider while stuck in traffic, we are
all going somewhere, where we are going will have an impact on how we get
there. Life like a sports car is made to be exercised to the limit, to get
every bit of enjoyment out of it you can. Stuck in traffic with 700 hp, being
passed by the kid on the ten speed? Any bets the Ferrari guy wants to
trade?
At least for the moment? Christians never want to trade what they have for
anything or anyone else. Saved by grace and raised up into the heavens with
Jesus. Even the HOV lane cannot promise such a ride, no toll road can get you
there quicker. Only Jesus.....ask the man who knows him. What are your
thoughts when stuck in traffic? We all get zero miles per gallon at idle, your
choice, sitting in traffic, sitting in the ER, or sitting at the right hand of
God?
And just to remind you, Jesus never hurried and was never late....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com