Looking at some recent auction prices on collectible cars, it seems the
cars of my dreams are forever embedded in the dream file. $20,000 for an
original 1971 Bronco? A 1969 Mustang Boss 429 for $550,000? True it only had
907 original miles, but I remember when cars were built as transportation, and
evolved into an extension of your personality-now it seems they are toys for the
rich, and an extension of one’s investment portfolio. At least you get to
drive, or at least sit in your investment, more fun than looking at a stock
certificate, or at a huge bank balance, another dream I’ll never see, but so any
are becoming museum type quality and never driven anymore. Signs saying “don’t
touch,” adorn them, and even cruise nights are avoided. They don’t get shown
off, like I would if I attained my dream car, but housed in hermetically sealed
garages, so humidity, rats, your kids hands, and your ex-wife’s divorce lawyer
can’t get at them. Only to come out when they are to be resold, and in even
some cases, sold without going on an auction stage, or advertised, as this elite
group uses word of mouth to trade investments, I mean cars. No give your best
offer, and I’ll talk to my manager, money talks, and even if you buy, sometimes
you still walks.
But we still live in a buyer beware world, where just because you ask one
price, doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Because somewhere a Mustang changes hands at
over half a million dollars, doesn’t mean your aunt’s low mileage, car will.
Rust didn’t come from the factory, nor did t-shirts covering the seats, blue
smoke was and is still a big no-no, and original can still mean factory air in
the tires. And so many dream on, thinking their junker is worth more than a new
house, hoping that right sucker comes along with more money than brains, who
just can’t live his past without it, and like the ad says-cash only. Now I
admit to have paid too much sometimes, only to be consoled by the you didn’t pay
too much, you only bought too soon philosophy in home buying, and you learn.
Most of us don’t buy cars as investments, just look in most minivans at the
papers, trash, wrappers, and other garbage inside, no investment quality there.
I even look at a new Mercedes Benz, all $80,000 of it, filthy and unwashed, and
I see no investment value there either. Nope, cars just bought for their use,
like an appliance, and no need to take care of it, just run it through the car
wash when it comes time to trade, no auction will see this car, only the ones
going out of the country, bought for below wholesale, unloaded for whatever they
will bring. Just like the million dollar cars, for whatever they will bring.
Just the dreams are different.
The bottom line, no pun intended here, is that a car is worth what someone
will pay for it. And either the next buyer gets burnt, or steals it for a lower
price, such is the price of dreams. It comes down to buy for love, sell for
money. And few brag of getting beat on a deal, but rather brag on how they
stole the car for such and such a price. We Bought it for x amount of dollars,
we put one over on the seller. But when we get taken, or pay to much, the other
guy Sold us the car. Such is the major difference between buying and selling.
We buy when we’re smart, we get sold when we’re not. Not a new concept, one
that can even be applied to God. Who wanted to buy us back from sin, no matter
the cost. We were worthless to anyone but Him, even today the chemicals our
bodies are made up of are only worth less than $50. Try that for an investment,
yet God decided to invest in us via His son Jesus. To pay the price, no matter
what, while we were still sinners, no matter our condition. A clean exterior
might not show the wear on the inside, but God saw it, and still paid that
price. Investing His best in you, His love, because you are priceless to Him.
Yet some treat Jesus today like an auction, holding out for more, it is called
pride, and not wishing to pay the price-your lives, for eternity. Holding out
for a better deal, following Satan’s lies, many have and continue to miss the
chance, and go to hell. When God’s offer is on the table for them until the day
they die. He is that patient.
Jesus didn’t pay too much, nor did He sell too soon. At just the right
time, while we were still sinners, He gave His life. Try that line next time
you trade a car. The dealer doesn’t care about what you put into it, just what
he can get out of it. God is looking to invest in you, to see what untapped
potential you have, not for His benefit, but for yours. Give Him the glory, you
get the blessings. Yet many walk away from the deal, or want to think it over.
Don’t make that mistake today. Watching a show the other night, I watched as
this shop put way too much money in a new Mustang, restoring it from being towed
in, and then during its first test drive out of the shop, gets hit. By you
guessed it, a clunker. With no insurance, the car is totaled. Don’t let that
happen to you. All that time spent on a project, only to never enjoy it. Such
are those trying to work their way into heaven. Accept Jesus’s offer today, buy
now. Show off what a great deal you got to others, an investment like no
other. What other can deliver eternal life? You may not be the show car you
think you are, you may be up on blocks because your engine failed. No matter,
Jesus’s deal still stands. What will it take to put you into the heavenly
family today? No need to talk to His manager, His Father approves all deals.
You know the terms. Heaven is that close. Live your investment today.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.com