It was one of those days I had no intention of buying a new car, or even to
look. It was one of those days that we were almost out of groceries, and out of
cash, that I saw our next car. It was meeting the family for a Padre game that
I almost didn’t make it to, that the new car came into our lives. I had seen
the ads for the new Ford Probe, and they looked cool, but when I saw an all
black one, still on the transporter when doing a business call at the Ford
store, that all common sense and financial history disappeared, almost like on
cue. It was like looking at a sporty Batmobile, and only seeing it from on the
upper tier of the truck, I had to have it. So going in and seeing my friend who
sold there, I walked out an hour later, with a lease on a new 1989 Ford Probe,
black. Rushing him, making it to the game just before the first pitch. The
only car I would ever lease, and the only black car I will ever own. I should
have learned from black motorcycles how hard they are to keep shiny and clean,
every weekend washing of the Probe reminded me. But it was cool, looked cool,
and many lessons learned from the transaction. One never lease, you are renting
and just throwing money away, at least in my case. After the lease ran out, it
had been maintained, miles kept down, and still looked new. With an option to
buy it, based on a prearranged value at the end of the lease. I had been almost
paranoid about turning it in and being dunned for damage or mileage, imagine my
surprise when I called Ford and told them I wanted to buy it. “Honey, we don’t
care what shape it is in or if it comes in boxes. If you want to buy it, the
price is the price.” Maybe all the hard work was worth it....or maybe it
wasn’t.
I look at the shiny new black cars in the showroom, and how the new buyers
are drawn to them. Not like Harley black, of which my friend tells me there are
only two colors for a Harley and both are black, but shiny and rich looking.
Until they sit out in the street because your garage is filled with so much junk
your new car doesn’t fit or is welcome. And soon it is isn’t shiny anymore, or
even black looking, I vowed the Probe would never get like that. And so it
didn’t.....with no reward for upkeep to the buyer, but no penalty either. With
my car salesman friend telling me “the best used car is one you know the history
of. And you know the owner.” But never again a black car, a lease, or buying a
car while going to a Padre game. I gave up on the Padres years ago...
That day and sadly too many others, my desire overcame my sense of
reality. Call it lust, as in I have to have it now, I deserve it now, and
anyway, if God didn’t want me to have it, I couldn’t get financed. Ever try
that one on God? We like to think we are self made, that as God as our banker,
and negotiator we have the upper hand, and can get what we want. But as Michael
Jagger and the boys sang, “you just might find that sometimes you get what you
need.” Or in one case of a man called Herod, you don’t get either, just what
you deserve.
Herod was a king who demanded he be worshipped as a god. He kept the
people of Galilee dependent on him for food, and when going out in his robes,
they called to him “he must be a god, he has a voice like one.” And so he
believed it, he must a god, for no one else is like him. Only to find out how
pride only leads to the fall, and can happen at any time. When the crowd
acknowledged as a god, God stepped in and struck him down, and left him for the
worms to eat. God will not share his title with anyone, lest you boast. There
is only one Jesus, one holy spirit , and one way to salvation. Promoting a man,
worshipping a man, or even his values will lead to destruction. On God’s
timetable, not yours. And always unexpectedly. Like a thief in the night, our
Probe was stolen, recovered, but after insurance paid off. Life can happen that
quick......
So beware the gods you worship. Learn from Dagon, a false god who kept
falling over and had to be put back on his perch, finally losing his arms and
legs. Sound like your god, maybe the black car you just had to have? For after
renting, and then buying, it was stolen. It may be just a car, but God wants no
other God between you and him. He likes to bless us with things, but to praise
him as he is the one from whom all blessings flow. But God is patient that none
should perish, and while rich and decadent men still thrive, and we wonder why,
we need to know that Jesus loves them too. That if he had come as a thief in
the night as he promises before we were saved, we too would go the way of
Herod. That we are not to judge, but just love. Not lust, but ask God, who
gives generously. Too may still are making the payments and still cannot afford
to enjoy the purchase. What looks good on the showroom or in ads, that which
impresses others, usually ones we hate, will eventually lead us to destruction.
Mine was a black Probe, if only it looked as good in late life as it did that
day I first saw it.
Fortunately Jesus is still making freaks into people, so we still have a
chance. But he is the chance, no other. So let nothing come between you and
him, no false gospel, no lust or gotta have it now desire, no rereading
scripture to fit your sin, or allow it, and it’s time to get to know Jesus. The
Jesus of the Bible who loves us, who wants to bless us. Who is patient that
none should perish. That Jesus. The one that sends angels to protect us, but
who also knows who are his, and who aren’t and never will be. Don’t lease Jesus
like you would a car, that’s religion. His price is not negotiable, yet
everyone can afford it. Yet out of the ashes, we got more from the insurance
company because I could prove the shape the car was in, and it was a string of
Mustangs, convertibles to follow. First a GT, but that’s another story...
So that is my only have one black car in my life story, and I am sticking
to it. Maybe the real reason I’ll never own a Harley. You see, we drive red
Mustangs now, and blue Triumphs. Not too bad for a color blind guy.....if only
religion were as black and white, it would make the choice so much easier.
Funny how Henry Ford is misquoted as saying you can have any color as long as it
is black, which he never said. Don’t misquote scripture, for as the children’s
song says “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
And I still don’t cheer for the Padres....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com