Probably the best $1.50 a young motor head could spend was on an AMT car
model, a tube of glue, and a bottle of Testor’s paint. The closest many of us
would ever get to the real thing, we lived our dreams of SS396’s, Mustangs,
Shoebox Fords, 55 Chevies, and other cars of our childhood dreams. Many a
Saturday morning was spent choosing the right model, then the correct color,
salvaging a New Jersey rainy day. We learned all about cars, engines,
interiors, assembly by following the directions, learning why they paint the car
then assemble it, why the seats go in, then the dash, and that the arrow
pointing forward means front, not the rear windshield. Why you install the
motor as directed, then drop the body onto the chassis, and if you follow the
rules, without skipping or rearranging the order, you have a rolling model you
can be proud of. You own a 1965 GTO, a Loewy Studebaker coupe, a 1965
Ramchargers Dodge Hemi, or any other car of your dream. But if you didn’t you
became like a mechanic friend of mine, who always had parts left over after
fixing something, and it never was quite right after. The directions were
valuable, and when you strayed you paid, not unlike real life today. So many a
lesson was learned on those rainy days, when building your dream car was almost
as good as owning one. Almost. Do kids still dream like we did then? The last
I looked the 99 cent models we once worshiped are now $19.95, you cannot buy the
glue, and paint is locked behind secured doors. And a real 1965 GTO will set
you back $50,000! And it still rains almost every weekend in Jersey.
Jesus was good at asking questions, but also good at answering them, many
times before they were asked if the disciples were paying attention. They had
to marvel at his words then as we do now, and in one afternoon discussion, asked
a question that puzzled them. Not how to form a committee on tithing, no church
board election procedures, not how to finance the Christmas program, or even
what carpet is in the sanctuary. They had been part of many conversations,
alone and in group with him, but when given the chance together, they asked “how
do we pray?” Interesting, as priests and rabbis intervened for men at the time,
they were the buffer between God and man. It showed they wanted a more personal
relationship with him. So Jesus answered with what we call the Lord’s prayer,
but really the disciple’s prayer of how to pray. An outline, not exact words,
and many volumes have been written about it. But we find four words within it,
four words so basic, that if all we pray are those, we will have the answers we
need. Words that go beyond the might and power of God, beyond any knowledge, or
understanding we may have. Experience may help us relate, but it too is
ineffective. These four words are the toughest words in a Christian’s
vocabulary, and tell more about us in Christ than we may wish to admit. Jesus
simply told them “pray thy will be done.” Thy will, God’s will, not yours.
Something to remember when you fail at understanding, you don’t or won’t trust
God, and you feel alone because you call him Lord, but don’t do the things he
says. He gives us a will to follow, then gives us direction. But for many it
is “die” rection, as we rather die than obey. Four words that when spoken from
a true heart to God, will change our lives. Will bring us closer to God, see
more of Jesus, and allow us to walk in the spirit. To open up the door to all
of the wisdom found in the scriptures, and proving who God is, and his love for
us. Four words that humble us, and without them may humiliate us.
“On earth as it is in heaven,” Jesus goes on. We get it backwards. God is
in heaven, he is what we want, and we want the things of heaven. I don’t want
earthly things in heaven. I want Godly things, the best. No man has gone to
heaven and returned, nor wanted to, so we must trust the spirit to guide , his
will be done. Do we really want the things of God, or are all our prayers so
selfish we would be embarrassed if we heard them repeated back to us? Are we so
full of our desires, that we don’t desire the things of the spirit? That we
continually set ourselves up for mercy by denying him, and seeking our own way?
Maybe if we listened, rather than spoke, we might hear what we need, rather than
what we want. We call him wonderful counselor, do we take his counsel? Psalms
asks “where were you at creation? Did I ask you where to put the mountains and
the seas?” Does God need our counsel? If you never get any further than the
first four words of Genesis, “in the beginning God (Elohim), you see a picture
of an all knowing, all loving God, who created the beginning because he has
always been there. Whose will was done in creation? His. And if he can create
a world and you to live in it, shouldn’t his word be enough, just because he is
God?
Thy will be done, the toughest four words you will ever pray. But the door
opener to the things of the kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. And we all
can use a little more heaven, or heavenly things in our lives. On earth. Some
days start out like they did shopping for a new model, but ended up a mess by
not following the directions. Thinking I could do it without direction, it
looked familiar after all. Which may explain the glue runs, the overspray, the
hoods glued shut, or the broken pieces left over from not doing it as directed.
Or decals not where they needed to go. Thy will be done, the toughest words,
but the first words to a new life in Christ, no matter how many years you have
been a Christian. If you had one question to ask Jesus, what would it be? And
would you accept his answer? And yet we call him Lord, but don’t do the things
he asked...maybe that is why mine never looked like the picture on the box.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com