When we moved to Durango I mentioned that I would clean horse puckey to live there. And I came close, as I worked at at a truck stop that dumped bus commodes. But we were also the only place in town that sold diesel fuel, so we would get the occasional diesel car, the station being on the old highway and most big trucks would by-pass it. We did get an unusual string of cars in one day, led by a diesel Rabbit. This group of cars, all driven by Japanese engineers, employed by General Motors, was testing their prototypes against the Rabbit. Carefully pouring gas into a graduated container, then filling the car, they would then use their slide rule to figure mpg, and one engineer commented to me "we can never get the mileage the Rabbit does." So they retaliated with the infamous 350 gas to diesel conversion. Anyone remember that catastrophe?Do any of you pre-MTV people know what a slide rule is?
Diesel engines, compression firing, cannot use gasoline, but diesel #2. Diesel #1 is kerosene or jet fuel, and sometimes can be cut with #2 in the winter to make it flow-diesel will gel and clog fuel lines when cold. It also was only sold at truck stops, so if you owned one, you dealt with big trucks, sometimes surly owners, wondering what you were doing at their stop, and the owners tended to be a bit differ rent. Costing more to initially purchase, you had to travel twice the miles to make it pay for itself vs. a gas engine. Add to that higher maintenance costs, and you had a vehicle that would get superior mileage, but cost more, along with that diesel odor, smelly exhaust, long warm up times, and an oily residue on everything you touched-only the owner could tell if it made sense to them. Did I mention you also got to rub shoulders with owners of CAT diesel powered rigs? DT66 drivers? Cummins drivers who all wondered why a nice person like you was doing at a dirty truck stop? They went home in their nice gas cars. But you did get more mpg. But to those of us who weren't into diesel, we just thought the diesel owners were a little strange-and they probably were.
I always wondered, why if you can afford to drive a Mercedes Benz, would you buy a diesel that was mostly sold around the world for taxi cabs? When 2% of the richest drove Mercedes Benz, why take a cab home, and park it in your garage? True, it works for semis, and locomotives, and one of the best applications is used on farms, for their trucks and equipment, where the uninformed fieldworker only stole diesel once, thinking it is gas, and clogging up his motor. Gas and diesel are not compatible with each other. Stuck on the side of the road, with that diesel smell, it is hard to plead innocent, but not ignorant. As one of the pump jockeys I worked with learned when he filled this guys new Scirocco with diesel. Fortunately the guy only made it 500', so we didn't have to push him farther, and it didn't damage the gas engine. Do not try this trick at home. Today even the military uses a highly modified diesel KLR 650 engine in their motorcycles-more low end power to move this over laden motorcycle, and the enemy is stuck much like the Scirocco owner when gas is used instead if taken. A glimpse of military intelligence.
Today diesel engines are far superior, due to being computer driven, don't even smell like a diesel, and start quick and accelerate just like a gas motor. Only the badge on the fender gives them away. And their position at the pump. Only the true diesel believer really knows.
Some people are like the modern diesel today. Many say they are Christians, and even walk and talk like one-but inside they are missing the key ingredient that makes them one-Christ! Like their cars they have the right labels, go to the right churches, and listen to the right music. They attend Bible studies, support ministry events, but inside are missing the changed heart that only Jesus can give. And sadly, their names are not written in the book of life. But they have never given their lives to Christ-and have so close yet are so lost. Good people-not saved people. Yet they subtly run on the fuel of the world, instead of the fuel of the spirit. And fall back on their good work record, and sense of duty when questioned-if they are even challenged at all. And they even get fueled at the same station/church, but only one is being fueled, the other not realizing that a good feeling doesn't save you-only accepting Jesus Christ as Lord does. You can put love into an unsaved person, and it can make them run like a Christian-but in the end they aren't. The fruit of the spirit cannot grow in them, and sadly many go to their grave thinking they are saved-when they are not.
How do you know you are saved? Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior? Are you born again? Just like Nicodemus, who understood things of the law, but was challenged by Jesus in things of the spirit, it takes the Holy Spirit to point you to Jesus, who points you to God-He is the only way. Does your heart yearn for God? So did Nicodemus. Do you do good things, and obey traditions and the law? Again, so did Nicky. But when he realized who Jesus was, he was there with Joseph of Arimethea to get his body. He gave it all up when he realized who Jesus was, and he was among the richest men of his time, as well as the Pharisee of Pharisees. Money and position, along with knowledge are not enough.
Who do you say He is? If you answer like Peter, "thou art the living God, thou art the Christ," you answer well, and your life will reflect it.
He is not just a great teacher, or great healer, or a great man. He is God incarnate-Lord and savior. He is God-deity.
And if you have never prayed to accept Him, even after years in church, you can do it right now. Just pull up to the right pump-and He will fill your heart and life. He will fuel your life and give it style. And it won't take bumper stickers or t-shirts to tell the world you are saved. We can tell by the sweet aroma your life will give off. Not like the stinky diesel smell of the world.
Filled up by the Holy Spirit-accept no worldly alternative fuels. They are expensive and can cause damage. Jesus-the only way to heaven- He is the ultimate alternative fuel!
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25 biker.blogspot.com