just lookin'

Every shop has one, or should.  He starts out just walking through the show room, being careful not to touch the bikes, although he is dying just to sit on one.  “Just looking,” he replies when asked if he needs help, the questioner already knowing after one look this is no prospect today to sell a new bike to.  After a few visits, usually after school, he notices the service area, and between the sounds, the smells of Castrol, grease, and brake cleaner, he is attracted.  Again when asked, he mutters “just looking,” and wishes he could just get on the other side of the rope separating him from all the excitement.  And on one afternoon, pulls up to the rear door, and when asked, he mutters, “my tire needs air,” and the tech, too busy to help, just points to the air hose, “help yourself kid.”  And he has gained entrance, and suddenly the prospect of filling air is frightening, but after a few attempts he gets it right, thanks the tech, who just grunts, and leaves.  Bragging to his friends how they let him in the shop, how cool.  And soon he stops by everyday after school, and soon is told, “if you ‘re gonna hang around, make yourself useful.”  So he picks up rags, empties trash, and takes abuse from the guys.  He is the one who goes for lunches, and when short on money makes up the difference, and when the order is wrong, it is his fault.  When they can’t find something, he gets blamed, even if he wasn’t there.  All for free, a job that isn’t a job, that doesn’t pay money, but his reward cannot be measured in dollars or sense.  And sometimes the manager slips him a $5 or $10, “go have a good weekend,” and he feels like the richest guy on earth. 

And then one day he is given a shop shirt, many sizes too big, but it doesn’t matter-he is part of the team!  A shirt he wears to school, and when the jocks and nerds make fun of it, he knows deep inside he is part of something they can only enjoy for a moment in victory, but that he enjoys everyday.  He may be low man on the team, but he is on the team.  And when the next kid needs air in a tire, they now can come to him.  He begins to take interest in a certain model, and using money earned, he now gets paid like the other guys, not much, but enough to buy parts at his discount, and have the techs show him how to install them.  Using their tools, and taking the abuse that goes with the position.  But he is learning, all about life, values, and teamwork.  Things that cannot be taught in school, and soon his bike runs, and the back alley is his highway-at least until he gets his license.  His helmet is used, and the paint on the tank doesn’t match the fenders, the engine smokes a little, the tires worn.  But it is his, built with his own hands, helped out with his friends, the guys who work in the shop, all because he stopped by, and was just lookin’.  And on the day he gets his license, and takes his first ride, they all watch cheering him on.  “Hope it stays together, you really gonna ride that thing?  Don’t go far so you won’t have too far to push it back!”  And if smiles were ears, he would hear them when he was well out of sight.  He was riding, and soon between summers, weekends, and afterschool, he had enough to buy his own new motorcycle, at a huge discount.  And was buying his own set of tools.  For he no longer was low man, he was now a mechanic.  His name right there on his shirt, and someday he will be helping the next kid who is just lookin’, and giving someone else a hard time when he gets fries instead of the onion rings he ordered.  He will loan tools, fix things for free, and stay late, open early, and never make a huge salary.  But he has learned at an early age that if you do what you love it isn’t a job, and if you love your job it isn’t like going to work.  At one time a rope stood between him and his dreams, now he is living them.  Something his friends, girlfriend, and parents don’t get, they had hoped he would get an education, go to college.  He got the education, something they don’t teach at Harvard.  He was part of a team.  All he needed was a chance and an invitation.

There aren’t many places a kid can hang out after school anymore.  But kids still hang out in bike shops, staying out of trouble.  Building friendships, relationships, and learning from watching.  A team they don’t have to try out for, with no awards given.  Many don’t go on to success like the kid did above, many will go to college, so get married too son, or move away.  Churches like motorcycle shops still provide a place for kids to go afterschool.  To hangout, to be part of something.  In Belarus, part of the old USSR, a man started a ministry with street kids and motorcycles, the first ones not running, donated by the police.  Just to keep the kids out of jail.  And soon they got them running, and soon formed a club.  A Christian motorcycle club, for the man with a vision for the gospel, leads these kids.  Leads them to Jesus, and watches as throw aways become valuable.  He gives them purpose, a reason to live, and a family.  Three things they were missing.  Built around Jesus, and using motorcycles as the common language.   And a few years ago I found I was a part of this and didn’t know it.  Somehow my stories, the ones you read, are picked up and translated into Russian for the kids to read.  And to learn about Jesus.  Some wearing M25B shirts I sent them, ministers of Christ.  Kids who like the kid in the shop were just lookin’, and someone took the time to introduce them to Jesus.  Using motorcycles.  A form of the gospel some churches will never understand, and where these kids would not be welcome.  But Jesus sees them, sees us different.  He feels comfortable among bikers, street kids, hookers, and junkies.  In many cases a better class of people.  Who don’t realize they want to know Him, until introduced to Him.  The smell of racing caster in the air, just  like it should be.

Fathers, when your kid watch, include them.  Invite them when washing the car.  Cleaning your chain.  Looking for your golf clubs.  Let them help around the house, and get them involved in the conversation.  They are just lookin’, and if you don’t show them, someone else will.  Let them hold the hose, sit on the bike.  Put a helmet and gloves on them.  Maybe give them an old shirt, make them feel part of the family.  Just like Jesus does us, just like He took us in.  Ministry opportunities don’t have to happen in church, spread the gospel of love by putting it in action.  And watch as it gets passed on, rather than passed over.  We were all that kid at ne time who was just lookin’, and some of us have found what we were looking for in Jesus.  The harvest in plentiful, the workers few, some will even be riding.  Every shop has one, are you that one?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the engineering is great, so why did the product fail?

While the rest of the motorcycle world was demanding 4 cylinder engines modeled after the Honda 750, Yamaha came out with a vertical twin.  It was not supposed to shake as vertical twin motors will, and engineering wise at least on paper it worked fine.  But sadly the engine shook apart internally, leaked externally, and it quietly disappeared from the marketplace within 2 years, the TX750 never to be seen again.  About the same time, just before the gas crisis, GM came out with the Chevy Vega.  At its heart was an aluminum block with a cast iron head, and steel cylinder liners was touted as an engineering masterpiece.  Until they started to overheat, leak, and self destruct.  A car that sold over a million copies, self destructed, and designed by a team led by Ed Cole, the father of the small block Chevy in 1955, that grew from 265 to 283, to 327, to 350, and bored out for many racers, was a total failure.  How could a man who designed the best selling, most famous motor of all time, have signed off on such a horrendous mistake as the Vega?  Why if the engineering was so great, was the product no good?

And while we are at it, who can remember the Suzuki rotary, the RE5.  Promising 750cc power from 500cc of combustion chambers, the rotary was the engine of the future.  Worked great on paper, but was overpriced, styled horribly-who can forget the futuristic styling and lunch box instrument cluster?  Restyled and painted black for 1976, these turkeys gathered dust.  Seems no one wanted a motorcycle that cost too much, used unique spark plugs at $30 each, and made put put sounds when backing out of the throttle.  And that produced such high exhaust heat that event the exhaust had vent to rush air over it?  No one seemed to care about how well it handled, the same chassis men would go onto fame with the GS1000, so why with such great engineering was the product so bad?  Even Yamaha cancelled their rotary version, and today no one had built a successful rotary motorcycle. 

Consider Post Its, if you would.  A great product, based on an adhesive the inventor had no use for.  But someone came up with the application and instant success.  In a pre Xerox world a man came up with the technology to isolate certain things, but what would be its use?  Today the photocopier is standard in all offices, and sells for less than $40.  Two examples of great engineering, discoveries that just needed a way to be used.  And I won’t even get into reverse engineering, but yet today many inventions are sitting on shelves, just waiting for the right time to be released, or still looking for the proper need to be filled.  And then there were those who bought the V8-6-4 Cadillac, whose engine would cut power to cylinders when not needed.  Fuel economy never got better, the initial objective, and reliability hit low, no longer the standard of the world Cadillac wanted to be.  Fill the gas and check the water for water injected Olds in the 60’s failed too, as did English electrics, aka Lucas, the Prince of Darkness, and many other designs.  So for many who consider the glass half full, some will consider the glass half empty.  Only an engineer will consider it a poor design.

It has been said that God has a sense of humor, and looking around there may be some truth in that.  The most perfect design ever, man, created in the image of God, has turned out to be less than perfect.  In fact, many times he has completely failed, risking making the creator look foolish.  But it was not the design, nor the designer that was weak, for built into each human is the freedom of choice, and some didn’t, don’t, and won’t choose correctly.  They go off thinking they can improve on God’s design, cutting corners, saving time or money here and there, and like too men I know, every time they try to reinvent the wheel they end up with a flat tire.  The flat tire for man is sin, we thought we knew better, didn’t obey, and never considered god in the equation.  We were doomed to fail after that, only a unique warranty program of love has saved us, and still does today.  While GM and others have cars recalled, God offers a warranty program called salvation.  His engineering is the best, cannot be duplicated, although many tried and failed.  And still do, trying to out think God.  But God sent Jesus to bring us back, to honor His warranty of forgiveness, no matter how many miles or years have passed.  No matter how you have tried to customize the product, God is there to repair it, to a better than new condition.  Using only factory parts, and a factory approved person, Jesus Christ.  No recalls issued, but an invitation to trade your old life for new.  To put the past mistakes behind, and start out as a new creation.  Try that at your Honda dealership.  Try to return any special ordered parts to Chevy.  And try to find the success needed in religion, it takes the factory, the creator to repair what man has damaged, and only a loving God will do that.  It takes repentance, turning from your problem, and turning to God, and letting Jesus deal with the problem for you.  A 24/7 hot line to the factory, directing you through the problem, not around it.  Bringing you through, and trusting Him more when you are done.

And unlike many car problems that you fix and then turn around and sell the car, we cling closer to God afterwards.  It is in times of trouble we get closer to Him.  Sick you need the great physician, troubled you need the wonderful counselor.  Sin, you need forgiveness, a savior.  And His name is Jesus. 

A psychiatrist may look at the symptoms, a doctor look at lab results.  An auto tech may hook your car up to a computer and test the sensors.  Only God looks at the heart and sees the problem, not just the symptoms.  He sees where the product failed, and offers the solution, still our choice to say yes or no.  And He has no history of bad designs, unlike the engineers at Chevy.  Just because you built a legendary V-8, doesn’t insure you the same in the future.  And just because they can explain it, doesn’t mean you will understand it.  But trusting God and His plan will.   Today computers, turbos, and variable valve timing all add power and efficiency to an engine, add ons.  Only Jesus goes to the heart, to the original design, which was perfect to start, and repairs the self inflicted damage.  Warranted for life....with no aftermarket plans, just plans for the afterlife.

We have found the problem and it is us.  But a loving creator invites you today to fix the problem.  Will you let Him?  One bad decision may have led you away, one good one will lead you back.  Even if it only a tune up, maintenance is still cheaper than repairs.  Now about that half empty glass....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

wish lists

As kids we anxiously awaited the Sears Christmas Catalog.  All the new toys of our dreams, our Wish List delivered to our door, all we needed to do was tap into our parent’s wallet and the dreams came true.  As a young adult working at Sears my attitude to the catalogs changed when they came in by the truckload for customers to pick up, and I unloaded tons of them!  Creating a much different wish list.  But the Sears catalog was a part of Americana, it was a chance for those who didn’t live in cities to purchase the things only city folks had available to them.  It brought the store to our door, and then with the population growth, Sears and others built stores in the suburbs, and soon we could go into the store, see the merchandise live, buy it and take it home that day.  And then the Internet arrived, taking us back to the days of catalogs, only online, no heavy lifting required, and soon many, myself included were buying things sight unseen, online, and waiting for UPS to arrive with our goods.  In just 120 years we had come full circle from mail order to store shopping to ail order....so when the news reported Staples was closing 200 stores, because of slow sales, the by line was because 50% of their business came from online buying.  And at first it upset me, until I thought about how much I buy online, or shop for online.  Hush my mouth, I was one of the 50% who bought online!

Before moving to So Cal we lived in New Mexico and Colorado, in small towns, where catalogs brought the newest motorcycle goodies to our door.  Unlike here, where the stores are stocked with the newest and latest, we had Dennis Kirk, Competition Accessories, and Chaparral to fill our desires.  And you can only imagine our first visit to Chaparral in San Berdoo-it was Christmas all over again, a toy store for big boys, all under one roof.  With low prices to match, why shop online when I could be there in an hour?  But many can’t, don’t, or won’t-so still live by the Internet.  But go into the local store to try on a new jacket, check out the new colors, then buy online.  Which has prompted many stores to match Internet pricing, great, I prefer to support mu local store, but when I can get the same thing for much less, with no tax, online is tough to beat.   And I fear many retailers will soon be going the way of Staples, because we rather buy online. 

Even car buying is like that now, with truecar.com and Costco, AAA, and credit unions having worked out deals for you.  No longer needing to dicker, punch in what you want, the price comes back, a dealer is notified, confirms the price, financing, and can even have it delivered to your home.  All with the only screen you are in front of is a computer screen, not a windscreen.  But it may still be hard to test drive without a personal visit.  So we have become a society of Wii users, substituting virtual reality for the real thing, never getting the full experience of hearing a 5.0 Mustang under full throttle, of smelling new leather interiors, or taking a real test drive.  A survey will tell you who liked it, and you buy.   All from the safety of your own computer-unless you are hacked.  But that is another story.  How impersonal, only the hacking makes it personal.  And it all goes back to the Sears catalog, circa 1874.

And so we can plan, dream, shop, and review online-never even having to encounter another person, unless we have a problem, at which time you are referred to another screen.  Still no personal touch, only the UPS or FedEx driver, the messenger making personal.  And beating up he messenger is no new concept.  For years when sharing the gospel, many have suffered for only bringing the story of Jesus.  Being attacked for telling a dying world about a living savior.  Seems it is easy to shoot the messenger if you don’t like the message than go to the source.  In which case the church takes the beating, rather than facing God.  Been there, done that, have the wounds.  So why do so many blame the messenger rather than the sender?  Is it the message that saves, or the messenger?  Or has life become so impersonal we only read the subject line, and not the text?  Do we ever have more than a Facebook relationship, with a photo that has been Photoshopped, or borrowed?   I once had a friend who used to keep the pictures of the attractive girls who came with new wallets, telling his nerdy friends she was an old girlfriend, worked until he met his counterpart-who dated the same wallet photo!  So let me ask, where are you with Jesus?  Do you just know the message, or do you know who sent it?  Are you an online believer, or is it personal?  Or have you rejected the message, because you don’t like the messenger?  Is your whole relationship with God based on church, a bad time with another Christian, or believing what someone promised you about God, not knowing the truth and being led astray?  Have you bought online or in person?

Internet bible studies and commentaries can be a blessing, but should never become a substitute for gathering with others, going to church we call it.  And since we are the church, we need to welcome others, encourage others, and become the gospel in real life that we tell them about.  Sadly you can take anything out of context and find a reason for your sin, but when confronted by a living, loving God, you must face the facts. Jesus is more than pictures in a book, or even words on a page.  A good Yelp review will not make it personal, and shopping for God like we do bike parts is not the way.  Low price ain’t it.  Quick delivery, overnight is not the promise.  And catchy phrases only get you in more trouble, some day you will have to face the truth, why not meet Him today?  Get to know Him and write your own review?  Why dream when you can be riding, and why wonder when you can know?  John 1 tells us in the beginning was the word, Jesus.  Good place to start, then read on.  Find a real exciting life in Christ that defies reviews, and a return policy, salvation, that no other religion or offer can match.  No small print, big letter Bibles are available, and you can see the truth for yourself, before you buy.  But make it personal, take religion out of a catalog, and take it into your heart through Jesus.  Why settle for online when you can have the real thing?  His offer doesn’t expire at midnight, but why wait, tomorrow may be too late.  He is patient, you are delaying.  The toy catalog of life awaits you, open it up and enjoy real life, in person.  All others buy online.  One picture may be worth 1000 words, Jesus is the word.  If He isn’t in your cart, add Him, if there, time to check out.  Make the decision today.  That knock on the door may be the delivery man, Jesus, just waiting to deliver your gift of salvation.  Jesus saves-and at today’s prices that’s a bargain! 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

foot pegs and floor boards

It is possible my preference of foot pegs over floorboards goes back to when I was about 10, and Chris Farley’s mom let him ride on the running boards of her Beetle convertible.  The only one in our neighborhood, and perhaps the first and only time I thought they were cool.  It would be another twenty years until I encountered running boards again, this time on the 1949 F-3 pickup we used to cut wood in Colorado.  Taking the fun out of functional, they were on an old truck, an old style, that most cars and trucks had abandoned just after WWII, except VW who kept them until the Beetle finally went away.  But it was my first encounter with floor boards on motorcycles that reinforced my belief that I preferred foot pegs.  On a group ride with mostly Harleys, the road captain warned of curves going to Big Bear, and to go slow so you won’t hit you floor boards.  I had never heard of any rider being warned not to lean and enjoy the curves, but here it was, and being on my Sprint ST, I was looking forward to the curves. But as the Harleys all chugged up the mountain, I decided it was too nice a day to go slow, and pulled ahead, and passed them all, quickly earning a reputation for riding too fast.  NO-they rode too slow, and why today I avoid crowd rides as I call them whenever I can. 

Now today’s foot pegs have feelers to warn you how far you are leaning, and how much fun you are having.  And I routinely wear them down, on my bikes and the press bikes I ride.  A badge of honor, we don’t ask how it handles, we look at what is left of the peg feelers.  And I do drag floorboards, wearing flat spots on them, once you get used to the vibration in your feet when dragging them, you can feel them wearing down, providing any fun you may have missed otherwise.  But having a Rocket 3 last summer, 165hp cruiser with pegs,  I noted the feelers were worn off, along with most of the pegs on both sides.  A new hero, for whoever had ridden this had had more fun than you can have with your clothes on.  And then noticing the license plate bent and shaved, it was evident this had been wheelied more than once-this guy was my hero!  That’s the kind of fun I want to have!

So when I met a man this last weekend who I hadn’t seen for 5 years, and he told me about going fast, and enjoying the curves, I listened.  And as he talked of peg scraping, his wife joined in as how they did too-sometimes, and she liked going fast.  I was impressed, maybe someone to ride with, until she mentioned they rode a cruiser, with floor boards, and suddenly her fast was not mine, and I was reminded the difference between foot pegs and floorboards.  It was only after I mentioned how I can touch the pegs on a Tiger, an adventure bike with high pegs, that she confessed, not knowing the difference.  She rode, and had fun....and then the floor boards touched.  They ahd only begun to touch the threshold of fun, and then the floor boards hit.  The following conversation about chicken strips lost me, I use all the tire, and I am impressed when the fast guys come back with the tires worn all the way across. Someday I will too-but not with floor boards.

Wednesday nights at church have become incredible.  Almost like a graduate course in the Bible, but led by the Spirit, and watching as we and others grow in the Lord.  Great worship, great music, and a great time with communion offered if you wish.  A time to get closer to God, and let Him speak to us, instead of us always speaking to Him.  A time to see Jesus come alive in the scriptures, and when applied to our lives He comes alive in us also.  Surprisingly when we meet new people, they don’t attend our church, but are active in others, but because their church doesn’t offer a Wednesday night service, they come and are fed with us.  And are welcomed.  It seems when Jesus becomes real in your life, you just can’t get enough of Him, and an hour of endurance on Sunday mornings for some, is just not enough for others.  They want more of their God, they want to go deeper, they don’t want any religious or denominational restrictions put on Him, they want to wear the feelers off their spiritual foot pegs, and many have ground away their floor boards on Wednesday nights, going further and deeper in their relationship with God than they thought possible.  Using all the tire to get all they can, and when we meet someone who doesn’t, can’t, or won’t come on Wednesdays, we try to encourage them.  Enjoy all God has to offer, leave no chicken strips behind in your relationship with Him, and watch as life becomes more exciting, more real, and soon others want what you have, all influenced by the spirit calling out to you, and you obeying.  They are called blessings.  You have to experience them yourself.

Some years ago when I had just bought a new Bonneville, I had two young guys work for me, who wanted to go fast.  So they bought an R6, and a CBR1000, wanting to go fast into the curves.  So one afternoon when they showed up at the house, we went riding, with me on the Bonneville, and Theresa on back.  Against guys half our age, and with twice as much horsepower.  I led, until the first curves, and then was soon riding alone, I was that far ahead.  They had the bike, the youth, and the desire.  I had experience, and had been there before.  And as I went deeper and faster, it was evident they weren’t players yet, and after licking their wounded egos, never rode with me again.  And they had foot pegs!  And so the advice of riding your own ride is important on the road, and with God.  Some will be content in religion, some will wonder if there is more, and some will just wander, still looking.  It is the ones who push the limits, who grind their pegs, who go on a Wednesday night when not required of their church, that are growing, and getting more blessings.  And no matter how fast you are, there will always be someone faster.  So I am amazed that when I learn something new, I find out how much I really don’t know.  And want to know more, not so much the knowledge, but I want to get closer to Jesus.  He tells us of the straight and narrow path, showing us how to pick our lines, and using all the road, but not getting off it.  Grind a few pegs with Jesus, go places with Him you were afraid of before.  Watch as the Holy Spirit wakes you up, and suddenly the ride is better.  More blessings!  Learning as the more you lean, the more exciting it gets.  Just like leaning on Jesus.  That is why we follow Him instead of leading, He knows the course He set for us, follow His lines and hang on for the ride of your life.

Now if I could only find who as riding the Rocket that day!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the motorcycle tool kit

Always there, hopefully when you needed it, the motorcycle tool kit has passed into history silently.  Once an intricate part of riding, bikes used to come with one, now you get an 800 number to call when broken.  But at one time, you used to be able to adjust your chain, your clutch cable, and perform a tune up with the kit provided with your bike.  Now the tools were never high quality, only in later life would we discover courtesy of Snap-On that wrenches came chromed.  Or that the reason you called pliers a pair of pliers was because they came in two pieces, or that screwdrivers were meant to fail before you stripped the head on a Phillips, the old two piece with different ends that would twist in the handle, just enough to bugger a screw, but not enough to loosen it, or tighten it properly.  And that wrenches meant for a Honda didn’t fit a Harley, which didn’t fit anything British.  But that an adjustable wrench, not found in the factory kit would.  Simple tools for simple fixes to be used by simpletons.  And they worked, somehow, and kept us riding.  But along came the BMW tool kit, the best tool kit out there, because BMW’s were the best, the Cadillac they were called.  But they never broke, so why the best toolkit for a bike you would need it the least?  A toolkit with shiny wrenches, a screwdriver where the blade didn’t twist, and one piece pliers.  All wrapped in a tool pouch, how cool was that?  Even had feeler gauges for plugs and points, no more using a matchbook cover for accuracy.  But included was also a tire patch kit, tire irons, and a pump.  A 40 strokes to the pound pump.  Do the math for a 35 pound tire-exhausting.  And it would work on other bikes, which made you popular when someone else had a flat.  Even had a neat little shop rag with BMW emblazoned on it, not much for wiping, but good for leaning your knee on so as to not get your chinos dirty.  All secured under the seat, in a tray designed for it.  A far cry from the Allen wrench found behind the side cover on my Bonneville.  But it never breaks, and if I get a flat, most carry cell phones.  The replacement tool kit for the trendy set, as things just don’t break like they used to.

But when they do, they must go to the shop.  Where no mechanics are found, now they are technicians, trained to diagnose and replace the faulty part.  After hooking it up to a scanner.  How impersonal.  And I think of how many rainy Saturdays we spent together in the garage fixing each others bikes, tightening bolts, checking spokes, and changing plugs, all with the factory supplied tool kit. A bit of the past, as most are gone, on dirt bikes remember them packed with dirt and mud, and on street bikes, covered with chain lube, and using the compartment for a stash. So it was a pleasant surprise to find my new old 1978 Suzuki GS1000 still had its tool kit when I bought it, also the owners manual.  A true trip back to the past.  And the pliers still two piece after 36 years, some things never change.

But just as motorcycles got to be more reliable, and no more tool kits included, after walking with Christ we can get lazy, and forget.  Out of sight, out of mind, and some of us are really out of our minds on any given day.  Things are going well, and we forget about God, we step away from praying, and figure all is well.  We don’t read our Bible, and our praying changes.  And then something happens, and we cannot find the tools, our Bible.  Or panic, and try to fix the problem ourselves.  We may be stuck on the side of the road, far from home, and try to fix the situation ourselves, or listen to whatever comes along.  When all the time Jesus is there with you, the ultimate tool kit, the ultimate fix it guy.  And sometimes we find that maintenance is cheaper than repairs, and if we had stayed close to Him in the good times, we may have avoided the problem now.  But after rehearsing panic, uttering some choice words not heard in church, and finally asking, Jesus answers.  He was there all along, and before the problem.  But for some He is only like the tool kit, to be called on when needed.  And if He doesn’t show up immediately, we get angry with Him, and turn against Him.  Ruining any witness we may have had to encourage others.  Not a new problem to Him.  And it all can be prevented...

Are you in the Word?  Is the Word in you?  Been awhile since you prayed, read, or attended church?  Welcome back, you are not alone.  We all stray, you have to screw up to get mercy, and God is mercy.  His tool kit is filled with the right wrench, and He won’t hand you a big wrench when you need a fine adjustment tool. aka hammer.  And He will hand you the tools before you ask, He knows before you do.  And many times we do, but choose the wrong thing, and suffer.  And then out comes the tool kit.  So why not skip over the stupid part, avoid the tool kit and go with God?  He is needed even more in good times when we are most wide open, and we never know how many times He ahs protected us form what could have happened.  Think about it.  Tools are more than for repairs, Jesus is more than a tool kit.

Read the Bible, see who He is, then let Him into your heart.  Follow Him, trusting His advice, and avoid having to pullout the tool kit.  But know that when you need Him, He is there.  Better than roadside, He is also bedside, sofa side, and dinner side.  But not to be put aside.  So reach into your spiritual tool kit today, it may have been awhile, clean up the tools.  Put the pliers together, and find all the tire irons.  Be prepared for any emergency, and it always pays to have the right tool for the right job.  Time to ride.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com