When we were kids, up into the jr. high school years, attending Saturday
afternoon football games for our high school got our adrenaline pumping. We
would afterwards head to a park, and then play some football ourselves,
generally tackle with no equipment, in cooler temps with waning sunlight. We
would dream of being the heroes we saw that afternoon, knowing that someday when
we got our chances to play on the big field, in the big game, we would give our
all and the fans would cheer. We even had our Thanksgiving Day all planned out,
football in the morning, hopefully at home our senior year, winning in the last
moments, each one of us would intercept, or recover the fumble and score with
seconds left, and then onto a fan celebration, and then home for family to heap
adoration on us. Big dreams, for a bunch of kids who really just wanted to
play, with no idea of all the practice it would take just to make the team, and
that the opposing teams were having the same dreams as ours. something, someone
had to give....and it wasn’t going to be us!
How many times after Wednesday nights at Raceway Park at Englishtown, NJ
did we burn rubber, or try to in our parent’s Pinto, Rambler, Vega, VW, or other
family sedan as our adrenaline was pumping from the hours of watching burnouts
and drag racing. Revving the engine pretending we were Jungle Jim Lieberman,
Fearless Fred Goeske, Dyno Don Nicholson, and others, we would soon be brought
back to reality by the track workers telling us no racing, and the ever present
law enforcement just visible enough to warn us a ticket was waiting for us with
our name on it. And at every stop light on the way home, the car in the next
lane was our next opponent. Young girl, nun, or friend, they were our opponent,
they just didn’t know it, and many a race was won by me smoking them off the
line, only they didn’t know they were even racing. Very few of us could afford
at the time the extra $10 it took to race that night, as many passes as you
could, the real racing was so close, yet so far. Run what you brung, our best
chance was knowing someone who did, and would let us hang out.
Some of us would put racing stickers on our parent’s cars, I even had an
Honest Charley sticker on my Dad’s VW. Hooker Headers, Moon Eyes, Cragar, and
Bell Helmet stickers were found on many of our parent’s cars, after much
begging, and reassuring them it was nothing dirty. We just wanted to fit in,
and the stickers helped. After much begging and whining, and convincing my
parents that mag wheels and wide tires would not ruin their Pinto, their second
car, Ansen Sprints with Wide Oval Firestones were mounted, meaty A70x13-today
just slightly narrower than the tires on my Bonneville, but in 1972 they were a
big deal. Raised white letters! Hooker Header sticker-let’s race! On the days
they would let me borrow the car....
As kids we had big dreams, even in our young adult years we still dreamt
big. No one set off to become mediocre, or worse yet to fail. But in every
test, every interview, every sales call, there would be winners and losers. It
would never happen to us, then real life set in. And to many of us a life of
mediocrity, of just getting by was a fading dream, one we would be happy to
realize. Which would carry us onto middle age, some to retirement, and then to
the grave. The old dreams becoming tainted, then forgotten. A life of mostly
stickers on a car, rather than attaining that car. No cheers from the field, we
were spectators, fighting for a seat on the 50 yard line, or Row E at Raceway
Park. Some became bitter, some never left high school, and some found solace in
drugs, alcohol, careers, and other women. Never knowing success as they had
dreamed it, never realizing that when someone wins, someone has to lose. And
the competition is tougher on the street, on the track, and on the field than it
is in our dreams.
Two scriptures need to be pointed out here. One, Jeremiah 29 tells us that
“God has plans for us, for a hope and a future.” When we seek him with all our
heart. Then listen. OOPS! We don’t tell, we ask, much different than our
dreams. And God rewards at many levels, for he knows the heart. And doing his
will, you will find joy and peace, a contentment not found in any dreams, but
only in Jesus. No matter where you are stuck, or where you are succeeding,
Jesus has plans for you. As Judge Smales in Caddy Shack reminds us “the world
needs ditch diggers too Danny,” not all who dream own the company, or get
burdened down with the responsibility of running it. Too many company owners
have a company that owns them.
The other scripture is “everything is going to burn.” Anyway. Never heard
from the lips of a riding young star, but often heard as an excuse from the lips
of someone on the way down and out. True it will all burn someday, but God
still has a plan for you. For that hope, but we fail to ask. To call on him
with all our hearts. We do not make the commitment to him, to let God see us
through the tough times so we can praise him in the good ones. We want gain
with no pain, Jesus showed us his pain was our gain. We want it all right now,
to start at the top and work our way down. Only in Christ will we see true
success, a goal attained, and lives changed. God never promises us success, all
he wants is faithfulness. To trust him....a dream for some, life for those who
do.
Let Jesus into your life today. Be guided by his spirit, recognizing his
voice, and then following him. Picking up your cross, he tells us, for we all
have a cross to bear. And it is at the cross that victory was won, that death
was defeated, and that the race was over. Life began that day at the cross,
some saw only a man dying, but those who know Jesus it means new life. Eternal
life. And a plan for our life while still here on earth. We are invited to the
banquet in heaven, not as a spectator, not even as guests, but as members of the
family. We rule and reign with Christ....no worldly success can give us what
Jesus offers. No bumper sticker, Bible cover, T shirt, or listening to KWVE can
give us what Jesus has for us. They can add to it, but without Jesus there will
never be a victory. No longer a dream, but reality.
As kids we dreamed big dreams, life brought us down to real life. Jesus is
that real life, he is life. Turn to him and find victory in defeat, life in
death, and a hope and a future, on earth as it is in heaven. Young men still
dream dreams, and older men still tell stories. Let yours be of Jesus in your
life as you get older. Inspire the younger to seek him, and let them find their
dreams in the reality of him. Jesus saves, and you can be saved today. Victory
awaits those that believe and follow. For every guy wanting to race, there is
one who needs Jesus. Be that one who leads him to salvation, let your life on
and off the field reflect him in all you do. “Well done my good and faithful
servant,” await those who do in heaven. An eternal victory. For all others a
victory that may be short lived, the next opponent ready to knock you off. Be
that winner in Jesus....the lights are staging right now, who will win the race
for your soul?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com