Turning 65, years that is later this week, I
have spent some time talking with friends about riding. “Will you keep riding?
For how long?” Next stupid question, please. But my riding resume looks pretty
good, at least I think. Working on my second million miles, ridden over 100
miles in one hour twice, coast to coast in under 70 hours, and over thirty
motorcycles owned, plus the 250+ ridden for the Triumph’s press fleet, I’m
satisfied. And adding another 2100 miles last week riding in New Mexico and
Arizona, I still feel the most comfortable behind bars, handlebars that is. The
freedom of riding has not gotten old as I have gotten older, and I still list my
motorcycles as my first form of transportation. To which a friend quoted
“motorcycles have been a great influence in your life.” To which I corrected
him, “they are my life. Not has been, will be, might be. Not riding under the
influence, they are my life.” And I am so blessed beyond words. Only a ride
will express it best.
In life we can come under the influence of many
things. Drugs and alcohol, no one ever got better from them. I know people
under the influence of their jobs, their cars, even their motorcycles, where
these things influence their lives. But they are not a part of their lives,
changing with jobs, divorces, adding kids, wives in control, and in too many
cases religion playing a part. Now to the unitiated that might seem harsh,
religion, I thought going to church was good, reading the Bible good, praying
for others good. And they are, but when they are only influences, and Jesus is
not the life in you, but only a part of your life, they can become a problem.
We have created a society of situational Christians, who treat life like just
another 12 step program. This happens, do this. A scripture for every event,
learned and rehearsed, but rarely from the heart. Let a tough time interfere,
and many times their religion is the first to suffer. The God who blessed now
is the God who is causing them to suffer, or at least they think so. Church
dogma, denominational diatribe, and following a pastor instead of the spirit
have become influences, maybe the next book they read about how to be a
Christian will change all that. Yeah, right. They live under the influence of
Jesus, but not in Jesus. Laws and rules, too many thou shalt nots, and the
spirit is absent. He is welcome, but not their Lord, leaning on other things
than Jesus. Sadly too many have found that going to church and owning a big
Bible does not make you a Christian, just like owning a motorcycle does not make
you a rider. It takes Jesus to be a Christian, and his spirit to call him
Lord. And like a billboard in New Mexico, “real Christians obey all of Jesus’
sayings.” Not pick and choose....the first being love above all
things.
Maybe a quick review of your Christian resume is
in order. It may get rough, but we are supposed to work out our salvation with
fear and trembling. Not to be saved, but like two weeks without riding can make
you rusty, the same life without Jesus will change you. The fear and trembling
verse had been taught to me incorrectly, Jesus is not out to get you. Nor to
punish. The fear is reverence of God for who he is, shouldn’t that be enough?
Add what Jesus did on the cross, shouldn’t that be enough? Just getting you
through the day, despite all our help, shouldn’t that be enough? Can we say we
love God because he loved us first, just because he is God? And is love? And
the trembling, even Toto ran when he met the great and terrible Oz, while the
others trembled. Are you truly in awe of who Jesus is? Do you get excited and
tremble with anticipation about him? Think of the last tight corner you just
endured, scraping pegs, and dragging a knee, and looking for the next one with
the same anticipation. Do you approach Jesus the same way? All these things
influence you, but once you live in the spirit, they will influence others.
Jesus taught it is not what goes into a man that is important, but what comes
out of him. Do we find his love coming out of our lives before we even speak?
Or act? Or think? Are we living in Christ or just under the influence of him?
So to answer the question, I have no plans to
stop riding. My riding style has changed, but the love of it hasn’t. There may
come a day when I physically cannot, so may call on a few of you to help me sit
on my bikes and make motor sounds. To duck in the wind that is gone, and lean
in the curves no longer there. But motorcycling has been my life, and will
always be the greatest part of it. Except for Jesus, where I don’t plan on
bagging on him because I am getting older. Because I need larger print in my
Bible. My hearing may be bad, but God’s isn’t, I don’t have to yell, nor does
he for me to hear. Jesus is the same today as he was in the beginning, and will
be forever. I cannot imagine ever not knowing him. The influences in my life
may change, he never does. He is the passion that has given me the passion to
ride. Maybe a quote from this morning’s devotional says it best.
“The great question we must raise is, Are you
listening? Are you getting the message God wants you to get? He writes it large
upon the landscape of history, and also He writes it small in the incidents of
your daily life. But in every case it is the same truth pressing through to us.
God is essential to us. We cannot live without God. You cannot fulfill yourself,
you cannot find yourself without Him. He loves you, is seeking you, wants you,
and is drawing you to Himself.”
Coca Cola adds life, Jesus Christ is life.
Until our next ride together, may you never ride without him.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com