Over the years the American dream has changed. In my lifetime it was go to college, get a good job, marry the right girl, and live happily ever after. And to many that was a dream fulfilled-at least on the outside. I can remember growing up in a neighborhood where many commuted to New York City for work, and whose dads you rarely saw. They had nice houses, nice cars, and apparently were living well. From the outside. But since we are not given many insights into what goes on inside, we could make our opinions based on what we saw, or sometimes didn't see.
Today the American dream is hopefully pay off your college loans, try to find a job, live with your girlfriend-why get married when half of them fail? and try to survive until tomorrow. Now this may seem a bit extreme, but we all know someone who is like this.
With unemployment almost 20%, based on unemployed, under employed, and those who have fallen off the lists, truth is harsher than fiction, or even perception. Perhaps the best definition of a recession is your neighbor is out of work, it is a depression if you are.
With unemployment almost 20%, based on unemployed, under employed, and those who have fallen off the lists, truth is harsher than fiction, or even perception. Perhaps the best definition of a recession is your neighbor is out of work, it is a depression if you are.
Many seek escape through drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other ways that end in disaster, and are disastrous along the way. For the rest of us there is motorcycles. And unless you ride, you just don't get the freedom found in it. Your worst day at work can be forgiven taking the long way home. Taking a Saturday and scrambling with your friends, grabbing a burger, and riding roads new can open up the doors to happiness that the world has closed. And even if you married the right girl, got the right job, the right home, etc, life can still interfere with your plans, so go for a ride!
In 1969, a TV show, Then Came Bronson came out. Lasting only a season, it showed a man who after after a friend's suicide, and a confrontation with his boss, decides to get on his XLH900 Sportster and find the meaning of life. And for a season of shows, you get to see his adventures, some even including the bike. But although the bike may provide the way of escape, it cannot produce the thing that is missing, that he is searching for. And in the opening scene of each show, it shows him at a light, with Mr. Successful in his station wagon, looking at him asking him where he is going. "Wherever I end up, I guess." When the driver says "I wish I was you," Bronson gives him his famous tag line, "well, hang in there!"
God has designed something into each one of us, that only Jesus can make complete. A something that the world talks about, is really a someone. And until Jesus comes into it, you can be successful, but only temporarily. You can see the things of God, but never see Him. You can ride the best roads, but until you ride with Christ, you ride alone-even in a group.
I wonder how the series would have gone on if Bronson got saved? We will never know as it was cancelled, and Hollywood would never be that daring! Today seek God, and find Him. Quit hanging in there, and become part of a body of believers. We will all end up somewhere, although the ride doesn't always get us to our destination. Truly for some, there is therapy, for others there are motorcycles. But only Jesus offers eternal life! It may be true you never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrists office, but you do see them parked at churches. Some pastors even ride-cool. Stop in today, look for another biker, and introduce yourself. Let Jesus introduce himself. And watch as the Lord opens your heart, and you find a freedom in Christ that you didn't know existed.
Think of it, I was lost and lonely, Then Came Jesus! A great show, with guys riding bikes, and cruising the US of A. And sharing a living god with a lost and dying world. On a trip, and when asked where are you going, answer "let me tell you...." and share the gospel.
You see Jesus and motorcycles-it just don't get any better! Bring along your friends. Tell them about Jesus today.
Taking a trip? Where to? "Just me and my friend Jesus...."
Wanna go along?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com
