It was cold in Jersey, so coming out I pushed the remote starter button to
let the car warm up. No key needed to start the car, then getting in, pushed
another button and drove off. Looking back as I drove off, I wondered “what’s
the matter with this picture?” And it centered on no key to start the car. Now
I have been around keyless starting or remote starting for some time, but still
feel old school about ignition keys. The kind you put in and twist to start.
Remember the old GM ignitions with start and run modes, you could take the key
out and it still ran. When the square topped key was to start, the round top
for trunk and glove box? And had an up and down side? With a 50/50 chance of
getting the right key when reaching in your pocket and usually losing. They
were all like that once. Until Ford gave us a two sided reversible key, still a
two key system though. The Europeans like Saab hid the ignition between the
seats, but still a two key system. Only one key for my Rabbit, and a folding
key on my 1969 BMW 1600, it never broke, but always feared it would, leaving me
stranded. How many times did you get your hand burnt looking for the key on
your Honda under the tank? Old /5 BMW’s had it in the headlight, but it was a
plug, which worked on all their models. Have one, you could start any BMW. No
security, but who stole a BMW back then? I even had a 1971 R75/5, white, with
a white Windjammer and white Krauser bags, and a Honda ignition switch built
into it, how cool was that? But today even though you still have to put in the
key to start your bike, you have to push a button to start it, after pushing the
run switch to on. Of course. Just like an old Chevy from the fifties. So
whether you have an electric key in your pocket, one in the headlight, a pair or
round and square ones, held the right way, it still takes a key to start your
bike or car. Unless it’s a dirt bike. As they say, “whatever turns you
on...”
We are told that we have overcome the world when we come to Christ. A
victory over moral pressures, sexual pressure, money pressures, the urge to
cheat, and to get our own way first. If you are having a problem with your
faith because of problems, be assured that the testing is there to build it, as
in this world we will have tribulation. Tested, you are scripturally correct.
But how you handle it is up to you. We watch as vindictive people seek revenge,
thinking it is OK. As Christians become wine sippers, because they think Jesus
said it was OK to drink. “I stop before I get a buzz.” But like being asleep,
you only know you were asleep after waking up, and only know you have a buzz
after you have one. See how easy excuses are made. Excuses are not overcoming
the world. Somewhere along the way the world and its ways has been let in the
church, sometimes invited, and then the door shut and locked it in. Sin is fun
or we wouldn’t do it. But the choice of a sinful eternity or one sinless is
still our choice. And reflects in our decisions and our walk with Jesus.
But how do we go on everyday amidst the trials? By faith. the daily
indwelling of the holy spirit. Not the same faith that once worked 20 years
ago, but the faith we need for today. The rhema, the scripture just for you in
the situation you are in, courtesy of the holy spirit. When he is at work in
you, you will have the ability to overcome. Or as the Mrs. Gipper once said,
“just say no.” But say yes to Jesus. We will be forced to give into something
in every test or trial, by faith we can give into Jesus. And the more you are
tested and give in to him, your faith builds, trust grows, and soon you take on
his character. Every action will not require a prayer meeting to answer, but by
abiding in him, you will know and naturally do. Really supernaturally, as it
will be by his spirit in you working, not of our own devices. Such are the ways
of those who have overcome the world, and given it all to Jesus. When we begin
to trust the unseen which is eternal vs. the seen which is temporal, the doors
to heaven and the things of the kingdom are unlocked. No special key, but a
personal one just between you and Jesus. A key that unlocks spiritual doors and
allows us to overcome the physical world around us. But for many, it is like
looking for their keys lost in their purse. Or on a ring of many. Which key do
I need? Where is it, I know I put it somewhere? If only we were more concerned
with Jesus the key to life than to the keys to our car. Fortunately he has
given us his spirit, and even when our faith fails, he never does.
We need keys to open up doors and to start cars. The key to heaven and God
is Jesus. He is the key that opens your heart, that opens the windows of heaven
for you, and starts a new life in you. So you can overcome the world and its
ways. No hot wired religious teaching will do, no extra set in case I lose
mine. One set of keys, one way, and one Jesus. By one spirit. Open to all to
be opened by all who call upon his name. So when asked whatever turns you on,
we can answer, it is not a what, but a who. Who turned me on to life and life
abundantly when I trusted him by faith. To direct my attitudes and actions, and
to watch over me. Something to remember next time you cannot find your keys, or
the ones you find are for another vehicle. Every heart has a special code that
only Jesus can unlock, the perfect fit. That no locksmith can duplicate.
Jesus, the only key you will never need a spare for. Even in Jersey on cold
days, he never fails to start......
Is your God still so remote, or has he come to earth to rescue you as Jesus
has? Unlike your extra set of keys, you will never need a spare.....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com