Shopping for a new car? Or just another car? Ponder that, for your
decision will make all the difference in where and how you shop. First the ads
on TV get you hooked, and going out to the garage, suddenly your old car, no
matter how old, looks just that-old. And so you begin to look via the internet,
Sunday car ads soon dominate your reading schedule, and you start by cruising
car lots. Then you drive in one, just to look. A salesman approaches, and you
reply “just looking,” because you are. But really you are a buyer, you just
don’t know it yet. But you look, maybe sit in a few, then look at the window
sticker. “Hey, I bought my first house for less than that 35 years ago...” and
reality begins to set in. Getting back into your old car, you leave
disenchanted, OK bummed, for what you desire, and what you can afford are two
different things. That new car sure looks good, I can swing the payments OK,
but doubt has set in. With every pot hole, every squeak, and every crack in the
dash, your old car gets older, and suddenly it isn’t about price anymore, I need
a new car! Or at least a different one.
So summoning up all your car buying skills, you approach the lot on a sunny
day. Sales banners telling you “today is the time to buy!” and you want to, but
still the bill seems to high. So you ask “what do you have used?” and are taken
to the back row. Older cars, used and maybe abused, but still functional within
certain limits, and these are what you can afford. Cars that when they were new
you wanted, but couldn’t afford then, just as the new ones are beyond your reach
now. You take a couple for a ride, the salesman thinks he has a sale, but keeps
pushing you to a new car. “You deserve a new car, then all the miles you put on
it are yours. Think how it will impress your neighbors,” and it would. But
they don’t make the payments, and suddenly a paid off old car has renewed
value. But one last trip through the back row, and the one you saw, sat in, and
drove, the one you couldn’t afford then, but can now, seems right. After
looking at other cars, you keep going back to it. And suddenly you gotta have
that car. It isn’t about impressing the neighbors, or affording the payment.
It is about the right car, and this one is it. Found on the back row with the
other rejects, too many miles, too many years, or too many whatevers, something
about this car says it is the right one. They take your trade, you sign the
papers, and arriving home, no one understands your purchase.
“I thought you were buying a new car?” and you try to explain this is new
to you. But they don’t get it. They look at your neighbors new ride, and think
you are crazy. And maybe you are, but you found what you were really looking
for in the back row. Away from the glitz and glamour, away from the new models,
and almost hidden, something was calling out to you. And you are happy, you got
what you wanted, just not what you thought you wanted or were looking for. And
no one can understand why you bought it, or why you enjoy it. But you aren’t
trying to please them, this is personal. And you made the right choice.
We are all looking for that something in life that seems to be missing.
Success in a career, so we can buy the cars we dream of, a house that anyone
would be proud to own, and the perfect vacation. Some do, but with a cost they
find they may not be able to afford. New car payments go on after the car isn’t
new anymore. The house needs work, and the big house you thought you needed is
so expensive to cool and heat, you don’t enjoy it. The perfect job, based on
income level, now has drained you, and when younger, less talented men get
promoted and you don’t, you become bitter. All the things you thought were
important, the measures of success you lived for, are leaving you empty. And
you may not know it, but your life has moved from the shiny life in the front
row, to the back row, with others used up and tired. Something is missing, and
you cannot figure it out. Where did you go wrong? What is that something you
are missing? The answer is that something is really a someone, Jesus Christ.
Who resides in the back row, not bringing attention to himself, but draws you to
him. The spirit telling you how much you need Jesus, but allowing you to shop
first, to drive a newer model, but not satisfying you with it. The spirit
reveals the intangibles we seek, and makes them available to us in Christ. And
when we come to him, we get the satisfaction, the joy of a relationship with
God. Personally. And God is not impressed with us, but loves us as we are. He
just doesn’t want to leave us like that, and as the wear and tear of a new car
shows, he takes the car you were in the back row of life, and turns you into
something beautiful. Where there are no words to describe it, you have to
experience it. It’s your decision, and no one is forcing you.
Now driving a new car doesn’t mean you are lost, just as driving an old
means you are saved. It is in the attitude and person of Jesus where our
decisions make the difference. He wants to bless us, and often we don’t know
what we want. God does. And provides it in ways that seem weird to the
outsiders, and may be humbling to us. But when Jesus comes into our life, we
change, we see things differently, and where someone sees and old care with high
miles and faded paint, you see the potential. A good detailing that will clean
it up, a tune up, and soon you find you made the right choice. The best choice,
and the only choice. And it was there all the time, you just chose to look
elsewhere. Following Christ will do that to you, suddenly you find self value,
you realize you don’t have to impress anyone to be accepted, because Jesus just
loves you. And as you grow, your outside reflects the inner heart of you, and
that inner heart reflects Jesus. Your desires will always be there and usually
placed above your needs. Get over it, but when you find Jesus, he gives you
the desires of your heart, and when he is the desire, the blessings flow
freely. Your worn out exterior has a new healthy glow to it. You are walking
in Christ, free in the spirit. And life is worth the living, now that your
priorities are right. Your back row find is what you really needed. You just
never realized your life was there too.
Jesus meets us where we are. Go for the real deal, the only deal that may
not make any sense, but makes all the sense. Turn to Jesus, he specializes in
taking back row people and turning them into front row lives. He goes beyond
the façade of success, and gives us peace. Money can buy a fine dog, but only
love will make it wag its tail. Jesus is the love we need, to make our tails
wag. Instead of our tongues. And at prices you can afford. Speed, comfort,
luxury, and a retirement plan better than any 401k. Just waiting for you in the
back row. The last place you thought to look, the first place you know now to
head to. Years after your new car is old, Jesus will still be fresh and new.
Something the ads don’t tell you, you need to find out for yourself. A lesson
from the back row of life, that belongs in the front row of your heart. And no
one will understand why, they just have to find out for themselves.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com