There is nothing quite like riding your new bike off the dealership floor.
The excitement, the attention, the envy of others, and the anticipation are
unique. You don’t want the adoration to end, but you cannot wait to ride
either. And for the first few days, then weeks, and the first month, you get to
know each other, and experience many firsts. That first mile, the first pulling
into the garage and all your neighbors coming by. Taking your wife for her
first ride, planning your first weekend ride to show off to all your friends,
and the first 100 miles. But after the many firsts of ownership, the new begins
to wear off. You notice the first scratch, as tiny as it may be, somehow your
ride isn’t perfect, isn’t as new anymore. The first tank of dealership gas is
gone, and you now know how far you can go on a tank and how much it will cost.
All your friends have seen it now, some tired of hearing about how great it is,
and then the first payment is due, and reality sets in. The newness is gone,
and the big difference between your old bike and the new one is the payment.
How many lose the excitement of their new bike after the first month, when the
only thing that has changed is the owner? How do you approach your new bike for
the next ride, is the same excitement and anticipation there? Do you look as
forward to the next ride after everyone has seen it? Then the crusher comes, in
a few months it is last years model, and suddenly your new bike isn’t new
anymore. No matter the criteria, do the miles reflect the fun you had of riding
it or off buying it? Do you find yourself looking at the ads and wanting
another new bike? Did you buy it to ride or to look at? The truth may surprise
you.
This Sunday is Easter Sunday, and across America many who only attend a
church service twice a year, Christmas and Easter will be filling the pews.
Once again they will endure the same teaching about our risen savior, fulfilling
their familial responsibility to them and God. But many will answer the altar
call, when asked to give their lives to Jesus, many will go forward, and enter
into a new era of Christianity. Some will go forward, or do whatever the
preacher instructs, an emotional response. Some will go to quell the nagging of
a spouse, some will go because their friends did, yet some will truly accept
Jesus into their hearts. But on Monday morning, after the resurrection on
Sunday, where will their lives be? After the newness of Christ begins to fade
and isn’t new anymore, who will be there for them? Has the most personal thing
you will ever do, repent and be saved, become just an Easter event? Will it
become like your new motorcycle, where after the few new firsts, it isn’t new
anymore and you go on to something else? Where is the church, your friends,
your new pastor the next days and weeks? You have just entered into a whole new
world, a whole new language, and have become a stranger in a new land, and also
your old one. Now what?
I asked a pastor a few years back, after they bragged about over 1100 new
souls for Christ on Easter, “can you name five? Three? One?” That silence is
the answer I got, it seems after the new birth, we need guidance now more than
ever, and the job of discipleship begins. Where are these new believers next
month? If they truly were saved, did you encourage them to come back to
church? And why aren’t your numbers growing? Did you reach out to them
individually? Didn’t Jesus tell us to go and make disciples, you can only
disciple one who is saved? Are we missing the great calling by bragging on
numbers, have we lost the individual new believer? After telling them it is a
personal relationship with God, do we just leave them stranded and alone? What
will you do?
Because I ride so many press bikes, hundreds in the last ten years, the
thrill is gone for riding off on a new bike. When I bought my new 2017
Bonneville T120 last year, somehow the thrill of riding it from the dealer just
wasn’t there. I had done it so many times before. Which reminds me of so many
Easter services, praying the prayer of salvation over and over, has it lost some
of its affect? Have I become cold to the new ones, just because I have been
there so many times? One month from now, where will they be, and will I be
there for them? After the newness of Jesus Christ wears off, what will happen
to them? And could we have done something? Ask God, for in our American church
society, we are failing miserably to disciple, to come beside the new ones, and
to be there for them. Sure a church may brag on its numbers, but what if you
are that one? We all were new in Christ at one time, saved but not getting all
of Jesus we were told about. Have we become religious or a Christian?
Christianity is meant for life. Jesus didn’t talk about religion, he
talked about life. He talked to them at work, in the temple, while serving the
5000. On the road. He instructed them of the difficulties they would encounter
in life, and how to deal with them. He talked to them about their children,
their bosses, their families, and everyday things that would trouble them. He
didn’t get into theology, didn’t get existential, or about which version of the
Bible is the most accurate. He didn’t make impersonal demands on them, didn’t
have them join a church, or discuss the latest trend in Christianity. He talked
with them, about life, because he is life, and wanted them to enjoy the abundant
life he spoke of. He showed us that if he is not the center, then we miss the
mark, in love. The Bible does not speak of memorizing verses, or reading it
through in a year. But it does say that Jesus has written his word on our
hearts. And that in the spirit everything he tells us will reflect on him, and
drive us back to him. If you set your mind on Jesus, you will find Jesus will
reflect in your life in terms of peace and harmony, rather than of strife and
confusion. The spirit has given you life, now go and live it, to the fullest.
One month later, do you see the same faces or new faces from Easter? Has
Jesus really made a difference in your life, have you reached out in love? A
few women were alone at the cross, his disciples, his first church or believers
were nowhere to be found. Where will you be found? After the newness wears
off, how will it affect your ride? If you were the only sinner, Jesus would
have still gone to the cross for you. Have you picked up yours yet?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com