Thursday, October 13, 2016

it's all fun and games until....

















We often blame our old friend Brett for the blond actions my older son performs sometimes.  Brett and he were very close when he was growing up, and from taking out the toothpaste display at Sac and Save to feeding him Mr. T cereal, they spent a lot of time together.  But Brett could be an airhead, but was such a cool guy we overlooked it.  And when he was building his house, moved in with us for awhile.  And the two months he stayed with us were fun times, and although we are still close, we don’t hear from each other anymore.  We both had families to raise and careers to follow, but back to his stay with us.
He kept his bedroom door shut so our cat Maestas wouldn’t go in his room, which she did as soon as he opened the door, and liked to sleep on his bed. Sometimes forgetting she was there and locking her in.  But almost from the first day he moved in, he lost his riding jacket, and we looked everywhere.  And he would get frustrated, as we all would, and for months couldn’t find it.  Now New Mexico will get cold in the winter, we were at 5500’, and so he would borrow a jacket of mine.  But the day he started to pack to move out, he came out of his room all excited, he had found his jacket.  And you would never guess where it was?  He found it on his bed...it had been there the whole time, for over two months.  And his sweatshirt, that he also couldn’t find, George found it in Brett’s tank bag, where he had put it to see how much the tank bag would hold.   Both items found just in time for spring riding season, when both weren’t needed...
The six of us had ridden to Albuquerque for a weekend get away.  George and David were single, Theresa and I, and Brett and Julie.  Sometime during the late afternoon, George and David went in and took Brett’s motorcycle key, and stole his seat.  The next morning after minutes of frustration, they came across with the seat, and even Brett laughed.  But the joke was later to be on George and David, as Theresa and I had left early, a storm coming in, the others to ride back later, about 225 miles.  They both froze their butts off, and one time stopping to warm up, wish they had a riding suit like mine, to keep warm.  What they failed to remember was I had bungeed it on George’s bike, and he was to drop it off on his way home.  Which he did, having it safely riding behind him the entire freezing 225 miles....We laugh now....
And another popular joke we played on each other was to tape down the horn button the other guy’s motorcycle, so when he turned on the key, the horn went off.  And it usually took 3-4 on/off sequences before it was figured out, the tape being clear, but yet visible.  I cannot count how many times we pulled that one on new riders.  Who soon couldn’t wait to do it to the next newbie.  But we were all good friends, still are, and often those younger days of joking and fun are missed.  Along with the ones we can’t mention here. 
We have a magnet on our refrigerator “it’s all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone,” referring to a dog or cat.  And as Christians we like to have fun, and if anyone should have fun it is us.  We’re going to heaven, we are forgiven, and we have access to God all the time, no matter where we forgot we left our jacket.  And what good is fun if you don’t enjoy it?  Which upsets a lot of Christians I know, who act like they attend Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows.  Straight faced and straight laced, they live so seriously and legalistic that they categorize us as immature, and question our walk with Christ.  They are there to remind us of every little sin we commit, and live in such spiritual poverty they have no joy.  They live like Pharisees, who had to keep all 600+ Mosaic laws, down to special hand washing for eating, or brushing against an unclean one-a Gentile.  Like certain cults and religions today, it is all about the visible, with no trace of the invisible, the spirit guiding them.  One man I know studies to find himself approved in all situations, and has missed out on many blessings while still studying, rather delaying acting upon what the spirit has directed him to do.  And of course, many think him spiritual, and maybe he is, just not holy spiritual.  If only he went farther than the words on the page and knew who wrote them.  And sadly these types can find any scripture, no matter how far taken out of context to approve their decisions.  The pages of their Bible may be worn out, but they also is spiritually. 
So before your Bible time today, ask God where to go and what to read.  Sometimes a verse, sometimes a chapter, sometimes going from Old to New Testaments and back again.  Guided by the spirit.  For too many read their Bibles like some interpret the minimum wage law.  I have to pay them the minimum, that’s all.  Nothing more.  But unlike the law, God wants to spend as much time with you as you can, no minimum requirements, and never maxed out.  That is why he sent Jesus to save and forgive us, so he can spend eternity with him.  One more riding story...
The four of us plus Bill, making 5, took a 1600 mile ride to San Diego from Farmington and back.  On one stretch of Arizona freeway, we swapped bikes, I got to ride Bill’s Virago.  Which had 4 way flashers.  I let the others get ahead, falling back, then came up on them flashers on, horn honking and they all pulled over, thinking I was the law.  You see, the law will do that, point out your faults and take away your fun.  But in the spirit, there is freedom, and fun.  A foretaste of heaven, with no  laws except saved in laws and outlaws.  Jesus, the word will be there, and we will know first hand all about the scriptures.  With a lot of fun going on.  So practice today for heaven, and enjoy Christ.  Be a kid, for we are all to come to Jesus as children.  Or did I misinterpret that one? 
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com