a free gift, shipping included

Years ago Thanksgiving meant the beginning of the Christmas season, heralded in by the arrival of the Sears Christmas Catalog.  Subtitled “The Wish Book,” it was a treasure trove of toys for girls and boys, and while some would writer letters to Santa, we circled items on pages, and bent down the corners leaving them for our parents.  No shopping list could ever be complete without that Sears catalog, and unlike today when we have Black Friday and insane people get up early to shop, we would sit waiting patiently for our turn with the book.  All the cool stuff we saw on TV was right there and available through our parents, aka Santa, and prices and everything.  No excuses...and for those housebound or away from a Sears store, they shipped it.  A precursor to Amazon, long before UPS and Fedex competed for your shipping dollar.  It was an exciting time to be a kid, and our hopes were always high, no excuses for not getting my list Santa, my parents had it, pictures, page numbers, and prices. 

But my take on the Sears Christmas changed my senior year in high school.  I was working at the local Sears store in receiving, and in the warehouse.  A huge underground facility, it was hard work, but fun, until the day the Wish Books arrived.  While some came in the mail if you had ordered that way, with a catalog pickup at our store, you could also get your new catalog.  And being a New York metro area store, they gave out lots of them, which I had to unload.  Figure the book weighed about 5 pounds, to 30,000 of them, that was 150,000 pounds of Wish Books, that young kids like I used to be were waiting for.  Three semi trailer loads, and bundled together in groups of 8, you tossed 40 pounds at a time to the next guy to be loaded on a pallet.  Then unloaded onto shelving where they again would be moved for the customer to get.  Suddenly you had lifted 450,000 pounds of Wish Books, or over 200 tons.  Pity the fool who asked if you wanted to go to the gym after a hard day like that.  But it changed my attitude to my old favorite, and I looked at them differently.  Suddenly I wasn’t the kid wishing and hoping and wanting anymore, I was unloading and stacking and soon would be buying things out of it for my friend’s kids.  And later my own family.  And the only thing I wished was that they would go away...at least until next year, when the process started all over again.  The difference between giving and receiving showing up big time, and an early story of how hard things are worked for, just so we can wish and hope some more. 

Today the Wish book is gone.  Amazon, the Internet, and Black Friday have taken over in fits of greed.  “I want” is heard more today than ever before, and with more choices many don’t know what they want, they just want.  Look around after Christmas and see how toys are left broken, or tossed aside going on to the next one.  Replaced by after Christmas sales, January close outs, and new Spring time items.  Suddenly what was desired, wanted, and lusted after has come and gone, leaving only the credit card bills to remind of all the fun and anticipation.  The wanting goes on, but never truly fulfilled, ads know just how to appeal to our lust, easy credit terms, and free shipping.  How can anyone resist the temptation, and few do.  Sadly also lost is the anticipation of the old Sears catalog, no more waiting, no more excitement when it arrives, and no more wishing and hoping to see what we get on Christmas morning.  I want it, and I want it now!  And if I can’t, well look out.  And so for some monthly payments are an easy escape.  That will go on forever...and ever....and ever.

It was fun being under the law of the Sears toy Catalog, but as today’s laws have changed, it makes grace that much more desirable.  Grace is interesting, as it is a gift, continually given by God, but not always accepted.  It takes a relationship with Jesus to see his grace, yet many just want the benefits, and could care less where they come from.  They want the prize, yet don’t know what it takes to deliver it, a lesson I learned unloading catalogs.  So many still live in sin, the hours are good, the pay OK, and as long as they can keep up the payments, they may complain, but aren’t looking for salvation.  Sin will always be sin, lust has no age limits, sin no stature of limitations.  The wages of sin is always death, and many are terminally ill with it, and don’t know it.  They stay within the laws, obeying the rules, and claim “I’m a good person,” not knowing the law will some day condemn them, only Jesus can save them.  They may complain about the weight of the Wish book, but want everything that is in it.  Things seen are what I want, maybe when I am older I’ll turn to God.  And then....

But for those forgiven in Jesus Christ the laws have no power over us.  We live in grace, guided by the Holy Spirit, with grace reigning in our lives through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  A gift, and while others toil to find hope in God, we have it.  We can act boldly because of it, and have a whole wish book before us in our Heavenly Father, who provides all things.  Such is grace.  If you have to work for it, it isn’t a gift.  It is only a gift if given freely, and God’s love via his grace is free.  So I can afford it, and easy so I can do it. 

At one time I was excited to see the Wish Book coming, later when it was a burden I couldn’t wait until they were gone.  Are we that excited about grace?  About the free gift of Jesus Christ?  Or are we still suffering under the law, trying to be good, highlighting good things we have done to God in order to be rewarded?  Grace only comes from God, can only be received a a gift, and cannot be earned.  Unlike Santa who knows if you are naughty or nice, and rewards you as such, Jesus knows we are sinful, forgives us, and loves us as we are.  Every day can be Christmas morning as a Christian when you live in his glory and grace.  And as you get closer to him, you want less, give more, and see grace changing your life.  And it is no wonder why it is called amazing!  Grace is mentioned 148 times in the Bible, but can be mentioned everyday in your life. Before Jesus under the law we sought to find grace in God’s eyes.  We felt we had to work for it, so when the Wish Book arrived we could be found worthy, nice not naughty.  Grace changed when it became a person, of Jesus Christ, when it became flesh and full of life.  Today you can be saved by believing on the grace that Jesus offers, no more wishing, but as children receiving the best gift ever given, salvation through grace.  His grace is sufficient  and abounding all at once.  And amazing all the time.  Sin has separated us, we never had to be taught to lust after the Wish Book, we wanted more than we ever got.  Grace unites us with a loving God, come to him today.  All the hard work means nothing if you do not get the reward.  We all wanted the toys in the book, when I had to work for them they had a new value.  Grace is invaluable, and is a gift.  Quit wishing, start receiving. 

The grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant, with faith and love through Jesus Christ.  Long after the trailer was unloaded the sore muscles remained.  Grace never ends.  Find grace and mercy today at the hands of Jesus, rough hands with scars, where sin was unloaded on him.  And you don’t have to work for it, God will resist the proud who think they have to impress him, yet gives grace freely to the humble.  Enjoy the last words of God written in scripture, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”   What an ending, I hope today it is your beginning too.  A free gift, shipping included.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

lining up paint molecules in the harsh New Mexico sun

Years ago a good friend of mine suffered a serious motorcycle accident while performing the customary wave to a fellow rider.  After the wave, although on a ride in a non-familiar area, he thought he recognized the rider, and turned to see if it was a friend.  But when turning his eyes, his bike followed, riding himself right into the ditch in a wide grassy median.  doing substantial damage to his bike, which was fixed, but never riding as much again.  He had gotten older and blamed his accident on old age, and not paying attention, but what happened was perfectly natural.  Where our eyes go, the body follows.  Whether on two wheels or four, it happens.  I have seen men walk into poles or other people turning their head to look at a women.  As a kid on bikes we would hit things because we were looking at them, and personally the more I stare a Botts dots on the highway, I run right over them.  Following my eyes, a direct hit.  Proving over and over again, maybe not a written law of the universe, but one that is true, where your eyes go, what you are looking at, the rest of you will follow. 

My eyesight over the years has diminished because of riding, and age.  I can see far away, but need glasses for reading, and after a day of riding it is worse.  My focus is always on things ahead, scanning constantly as good riders do, looking for escape routes if danger strikes, but alert enough to keep both eyes on the road.  Perhaps the best example was one afternoon in Plainfield when BH wheelied to show off for a girl on the sidewalk.  Front wheel in the air, while looking for her response didn’t notice the parked police car he was about to land on.  Loss of license, and pride, no word on if the girl was impressed.  And for fun sometimes, we would perform a stunt we saw on The Little Rascals, in a crowd one of us would look up, and then point at nothing, and soon the whole crowd was following us, some admitted to seeing something, we never said a word and mixed into the crowd laughing.  But my favorite was while selling Jeeps and AMC products back in the seventies, no mean feat, and no way to get rich. 

I worked with a good friend named Mike, who was a joker, a very good one.  He sold a Concord to an engineer from Sandia Labs, the company who helped build the first atomic bomb.  When the customer showed up with his friends, about 5 of them to see his new car, they never had a chance as Mike was in rare form.  He went into a long diatribe about how American Motors shoots electricity through their paint so that the molecules line up, to prevent fade in the harsh New Mexico sun.  Bending over the roof, he looked at a few angles, then declared “look, you can see them now.  It’s harder on light cars, but here, take a look.”  And one after another of these brilliant engineers looked, each one of them declaring “yes I see them.”  Maybe just pencilneck humor, but each one claimed to see the molecules line up.  And another urban legend was born.  I was there, and saw part of it, breaking up in laughter forced me to leave the showroom, followed by the other salesmen.  But where the eye went, the body followed, and in this case the mind too.

No record of a tabernacle or sacrifices were made of Abram’s trip to Egypt.  No growth in grace until he returned, and the first thing he did was build an altar and worship God.  While away looking for help in the famine he took his eyes off of God, the only true source of all things.  He was spiritually starving although being physically fed.  And when the hunger got to be too much, returned to God.  Today we would call him backslidden, and even though he returned to the same place he had left seeking nourishment, he was spiritually starved.  Sound familiar?  For when we abandon the pathway of faith, saying we trust Jesus but seeking alternative ways, we starve.  Something in us isn’t being nourished, and although we may have things to show for it, we don’t have God.  We have sought after other things, but fortunately he stays with us. Off the path, off the road, and out of church, he stays with us!  And when we finally wise up to seek God like we should have in the first place, it is then we see his hand in things, and although still in the famine, we see how he meets our needs, all of them. 

When you pray in the name of the Lord, of Jesus Christ, we are praying for all the resources his name means.  All of them, everything.  Just like when a check is signed we trust the signer to honor the funds, we need to trust Jesus because he is the author of our faith.  And the finisher.  Why ask if you are going to not listen for his answer?  Who wrote your name in the book of life?  Does his name mean more than just what you want?  Where do your spiritual eyes go for help?  And who do you follow?

Abram finds that God meets his needs despite the famine.  Paul tells us my God will meet all your needs according to his riches and glory.  Many have riches, only God has glory.  And can back it up in love.  So what’s your excuse?  Where are your eyes looking for help?  Now are you surprised why you are not finding God but the other things you chase?  Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and look full in his wonderful face, and like the old song tells us, the “things of earth will go strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” 

There is a way out of your Egypt,which represents sin.  And a way back.  His name is Jesus, and he forgives.  Two friends riding took their eyes off the road and paid the price.  A group of engineers who should have known better saw nothing, yet claimed they did.  It takes faith to trust the spirit of God, who we cannot see, but know exists.  The proof will be in the evidence of when we follow him.  And hopefully not in the proof of when we don’t.  Evidence that demands a verdict.  And for me, I rather be riding than recuperating.  It takes a screw up to see mercy, grace is free and without cost.  Trust God today and see where you are going.  And if in New Mexico, and someone wants to show you paint molecules that line up, tell them you already saw them.  “On my last trip to Egypt...”  

“Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane...”  setting your sights on things on high, for that is our eternal destiny.  Jesus was the first man to come to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.   A true Superman.  Welcome back, it’s been too long.  Let’s eat.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

there ain't no easy way out

I tell people that I win more battles today because I am better at picking my fights.  That old Kenny Rogers’ line about “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em “ applies to many decisions in life other than cards.  And with life being a daily battle for most, when it becomes too overwhelming turn to drugs or alcohol.  Which only makes the situation worse.  Never will you hear “I was a total failure and then started smoking pot.  Today I am a success.”  Rather I deal with many whose families have been ruined by alcohol and drug abuse.  Prisons are filled with nice people who under the influence did things they normally would not have done.  And they and their families pay the price, sometimes for decades.  There ain’t no easy way out, yet many look for it in things, something that can ease the pain.  Or prolong the inevitable.  Something to show an escape route, so desperate that they will try anything.  And when the escape escapes them, some will finally take their own life.  Brave or chicken not for me to decide, but those that are left behind suffer.  Close the wound and hide the scar, but the pain remains.  Many ask what does love have to do with it, I can tell you from experience that love has everything to do with it.

While we may have to screw up, to obtain mercy, that is one of the qualifications, God’s grace is readily available, does not depend on us, and is in action without us even knowing it.  Saved or unsaved, God’s grace is there.  But we tend to think of grace as for us, a personal gift from a loving God who sent Jesus to save us, but many times he uses us to pass his grace through to others.  We get to be a part of the grace he has for others, just because he loves us, not because we have the abilities, or even availabilities.  It is coming up on 3 years since my open heart surgery, where God has performed many a miracle in the fact I am not dead, but alive.  No one else in medical history had what I did, and a loving God and his grace got me through it to share with others.  But in it I saw a whole new side to grace, and found my thoughts of grace were selfish, all about me, with a thanks to God.  Sometimes.  But grace was about to be even more amazing than the song we sing...

A few weeks after release from the nursing home for rehab, I asked God “why didn’t you take me home?”  I had been described as the sickest person they had ever seen who wasn’t dead, and as close to death as you can come without dying.  His words were  not what I expected.  “So that your wife is not a widow, and your sons are not orphans.”  Suddenly grace wasn’t all about me, and I was glad it wasn’t.  But God wasn’t done, although I was happy with his answer.  When he knew I was ready, he took me to the next step.  We had all had a particularly bad year, from a house fire to my dad dying, to Andrew’s serious motocross crash, and God took me deeper.  “I showed grace so you could see how well your sons were doing.”  Things had changed and everyone was working, recovering, and enjoying life.  A full 180 from where we had been.  Yes, grace is a good thing, I will agree with God.  It was for me, but again not all about me.

Finally he showed me an even better way, and how selfish I had been.  Not knowing how selfish, but being shown in a loving way.  “I showed you grace so that your sons could see you seeing them successful.”  True to form, when God gets the glory, the blessings flow, but grace needs no conditions, just as God’s love for us doesn’t.  And as much as I look forward to heaven, I am glad I was saved from death to see my sons successful.  And them see me see them, and still around today.  After what I went through death would have been the easy way out for me.  It is tougher to be earthbound after seeing heaven, and I have just like the scripture tells us, there is no way to describe it other than “I want to go back.”  But God’s ways are different, and being here for my family has shown me grace, some so amazing I cannot find words.  Only an infinite God can love like that, and no finite words can describe him.  There ain’t no easy way out...yet there is.  His name is Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on our own understanding.  Yet we try to figure things out, pick which battles to fight, and only consult God when all else fails.  The saddest words spoken in hospitals are “we have tried everything else, I guess it’s time to pray.”  Fortunately grace doesn’t wait for an invitation.  It is at work in us right now, some see it, some don’t, some others deny it.  But God’s love for you is so great he gave his son, and if he gave the most precious thing he ever had, imagine what else he can do for you.  When my aorta exploded, all hope was lost, but yet Dr. Walsinsky didn’t panic, later telling me “it is obvious that God intervened.”  When every doctor or nurse gave me up for dead, Jesus didn’t.  His work in me wasn’t finished, and yours isn’t either.  Until the day we face him in that amazing grace that has no words, we can experience it here on earth.  Jesus told his disciples to pray “on earth as it is in heaven,”  where I will have a perfect heart and no plastic aorta.  All sin washed away, no scars, yet the wounds Jesus bore for us will be evident.  He bore our iniquities, he took the beating.  He paid the price.  He showed us grace.  Amazing.

Jesus is the easy way out for us.  Turn to him today in your situation and find grace.  Not what you would expect, you get even more.  It is true life is a battlefield, but we will win the war.  Death is defeated.  Sin is conquered along with its wages.  Yet the battles continue daily, and we won’t win them all.  Grace changes that, for all things work for good, yet only those in Christ see it.  Coming to Christ opens the door to see, he is the easy way out, and will take us through the battles.  Some tough, some unwinnable, but somehow we prosper in his grace.  So don’t contain the grace God has for you, don’t limit Christ in your life.  Don’t wait until all else fails to call Jesus, the fact you are reading this this far shows God’s grace to you.  He wants to make it personal, will you let him?

My nine inch scar on my chest shows where Jesus held my heart and saved my life.  But in no way compare to the nine inch nails driven into his hands and feet.  Death is our final reward in Christ.  Staying here and serving him is tough at times.  And when there ain’t no easy way out, remember that.  Before you need to.  His grace is sufficient, and to me will always be amazing.  So easy a sinner can do it.  And you say....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the winter I couldn't ride

43 years ago this month I bought my first motorcycle.  A lot of things have changed over those years, but one constant has been that I have always owned at least one motorcycle.  Well, almost, for there was a 100 day period that we were bikeless, but would return.  We lived in Colorado at the time, at 8300’ altitude, and had over 500 inches of snow that winter.  Newly married, we had a 1977 BMW R100S, the bike I had met Theresa on, my fifth and to be my last BMW.  It started to make a noise that sounded like it was coming from the engine, so still under warranty I took it to the dealer, some 90 miles away.  Who replaced the ring and pinion in the final drive under warranty, and we were bikeless for a few weeks.  But with winter coming on, we had other concerns, heat and food among them, but still waited for the call it was ready.  And I can still remember the day I got it, and the ride back from Farmington, and how good it felt to ride again, how the biting cold didn’t seem to matter, I was on two wheels.  And so what if it would snow the next 4 months, my ride was home and all was well.  Or so I thought, and so I hoped and prayed.  I can still remember riding past Carl Brown’s farm on County Road 501 when the noise began, and the engine lost power.  And how a short time later it quit altogether, and how I coasted it home, heartbroken.  And being without a phone, we lived 27 miles from town and phones were paid for by the mile, and for a party line, I called the dealer from a phone booth and complained.  Simply told to bring it back, I never did, as the snows fell, and with no pickup I had no way.  But visited the dealer a week later anyway to voice my dismay.  And got a greeting I didn’t expect...

I was greeted physically by the service manager, who accused me of putting something over on him.  Ring and pinions don’t make noise, and BMW would not replace the non-defective parts they replaced, and he wanted me to pay for them.  He diagnosed it, not me.  And told me never bring the bike in again!  Yeah, right!  Stupid hurts, and it fit him well, sadly it fit me too.  And the S never would be ridden again.  It was later discovered that both rods had separated from the crankshaft, so much for fine German engineering and manufacturing, and was useless.  I was left with a $4300 paperweight, that in the dead of winter was repossessed, I had quit making payments to BMW since they wouldn’t fix it.  It took the repo man hours to dig it out of our basement, and was the first and last bike I wasn’t sad to see go.  But it left a void, one that has never been duplicated.  For the next 100 or so days I was without a motorcycle.  So what if I couldn’t ride, so what it was daily below zero, or we had 40 feet of snow.  I had no ride...and it only made the winter longer.  But another bike was waiting, I just didn’t know it, yet.  And despite the weather, economic conditions, family raising, job changes, and major moves, God has seen to it I always have a motorcycle.  But that 100 days was brutal....

But when spring came, and a used 1975 Z-1 came my way, all was forgotten.  And even though it was high miles, 46,000, I put another 30k on it in 3 years, still at 8300’ and snow.  And ended up trading it for a new 1981 KZ750 to the dealer in Salida, Tom who paid me retail for it.  He wanted it!  And the list was to go on, and dozens of bikes later, my quiver, or garage is still full today.  Winters in So Cal allowing me to ride everyday if I want.  And I want.  But for a brief time, there was no paradise.  No riding, and nothing to ride.  Perhaps the toughest time in our marriage, broke, cold, hungry, and bikeless, but not without God.  Better than the Post Office, he delivers despite the weather and despite the circumstances.  And we were never alone.

Now 100 days over 43 years doesn’t sound like much, but when you are enduring it, with no end in sight, it seems never ending.  Eternity is like that, never ending.  Yet we are told to live our lives daily, not worrying about tomorrow, for it has enough problems of its own.  But still we live looking forward to eternity, and where we will spend it.  Heaven calls, but hell calls too, and many things can keep us out of heaven.  Things we worship instead of God, while claiming he is still first.  Things we can touch, see, and ride.  But cannot be taken with us to heaven, but can drive us to hell.  Like motorcycles, cars, careers, jobs, or well, you get it.   That 100 days I didn’t know it then, but God was curing me of idol worship, and giving me a priority to live by.  Him first.  It was a tough lesson, and a cold one, but we never went without food,shelter, or clothes.  Just a motorcycle.  Despite being without income, he met all our needs, and continues to today.  Despite bad choices, bad decisions, and bad motorcycles, he stayed with us.  We were able to face piles of trials  with smiles, like the old Moody Blues lyric with Jesus.  And after a harsh winter, and nothing to ride even if we could, he came through when springtime hit.  He had another cycle ready for us, and then another, and another.  Bringing people into our lives we never would have met without the storms, or broken engines.  Bringing us to where we are today.  Sometimes kicking and screaming, such is his love.  For us it was one winter, 100 days.  For Job it is said it was 18 months.  With no end in sight.  Problems are like that, but so is God.  He sees the end, knows where we are, meets us there, and makes all things work for good for us.  All things, even snow and broken bikes.  We were building a testimony, still are, and sometimes we forget about that.  That every day we face those piles of trials, mostly without smiles, but God is always there.  And when we look back and give him the glory, we get the blessings. 

Whether in surgery, recovering, behind bars, homeless, unemployed, foreclosed on, or pushing your bike instead of riding it, Jesus is with you.  He never left, will never leave, and will show you the way through the storms.  Not around them, but through, wanting to show his love, to prove he is worthy of all praise.  To which he advise us, “never give up hope, never give up.”  But give in, to his will and his way. Guided by his spirit, we will make it into eternity.  Heaven with him, hell without him.  A choice he allows us to make.  The S could have stopped running anywhere, yet he got me home.  We made it through the worst weather of our lives, and maybe the toughest part in our young marriage, but God was faithful.  Even when we weren’t.  Now that’s love.  A better warranty than anything man made can provide.  In your winter of non-riding today remember that.  Don’t give up, give in.  He will rescue you and get you through, if only to your next trial.  With his daily bread, so enjoy today for what it is worth.  And Jesus is always worth it.  It took a winter of no motorcycles to get my priorities straight, and today my passion to ride is strong, but my passion for God is much stronger.  He reminds me daily of how much he loves us, if only we could see him more clearly how much different our life would be. 

100 days doesn’t seem like much, but a 100 day lesson has proved vital to my life with Christ.  Motorcycles have come and gone, yet Jesus remains.  Nothing can separate us from his love.  Romans 8 tells us ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And may I add to that winters without motorcycles.  Remember that today when faced with your next trial, and we will have them, so let Jesus do what the law couldn’t do.  What warranties and doctors cannot.  He gives us eternal life with him.  And he wants nothing to stand between us.  For me it was a two wheeled idol, what is it for you?  Only God knows, let nothing separate us from his love.  That next blessing could be around the corner or just 100 days away. For me it was the winter I couldn’t ride. And when your motor starts making strange noises, go to God first.  Now go out and enjoy your ride, knowing Jesus is with you.  And he will get you home.  The ultimate riding machine let me down, the ultimate Son of God never will.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the day Abram learned to ride

It has happened to all of us, going to a new school, new job, or joining a club.  We make new friends, and suddenly where our calendar may have been full, now when asked “what are you doin’ Saturday,” the reply is as creative as “nothing really, what are you thinking?”  But a big step for many is when they learn to ride, and seek out others who ride also.  Maybe at the dealership, maybe at a bike night, or just stopping to visit with another rider, suddenly our whole social calendar has changed, and it is based upon the ride.  Or rather the motorcycle.  When old friends call and want to hang out, they don’t get it you want to ride, or just get a message to leave a message.  Rides get longer, the friends multiply, and pretty soon you find yourself in the brotherhood of others who ride.  You are one of them, and joined a minority, that once you may have looked down on, but now you call precious.  Your brothers and sisters who ride, and now you look at things differently.  You take the long way home when riding, go places you never would have thought of before.  You look at leather and riding clothes now, where before you spent too much on golf clothes or that shirt with the lizard on it.  You care less about your hairstyle, helmet head becomes a badge of honor, and you look for different “do rags” to fit the ride.  When the latest Cycle magazine comes, all other books and papers go unnoticed until it is read, and suddenly reading maps is interesting, rather than letting a GPS guide your trip in the car.  New friends who get it and you don’t have to explain why you ride to them, and when you do to others they don’t get it, and soon fall from your BFF list of favorites.  Whereas your peer group once was composed of those who you worked with, golfed with, or some social organization, now you hang out with doctors, lawyers, retired mechanics, laborers, salesmen, and minimum wage earners-the common denominator is you all ride.  A stronger peer group is formed, the brotherhood is added to, and the old life style has given way to life.  “I wish I had learned to ride sooner.....”  Wasted words on those who don’t. 

In Genesis 12 God tells Abram to do three things, “leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I show you.”  When told to leave his country, God wants him to leave his old life behind, just as we are told by Jesus we are a new creature in Christ, leave the past behind.  We may not physically leave, but spiritually we do. Our old values based on things change to value based on Christ, and we see things differently. The things we once thought were important then we see as a burden now, money, fame, and fortune may have seemed important once, we now see success in God’s eyes, and we have values, rather than valuables.  Abram was told to leave his family, which in a spiritual sense form our morals.  Just because our parents did is no longer an excuse, we now see things in the spirit, and have freedom.  Opinions and traditions now have little value, and their influence where at one time was heavy, now is burdensome.  We pick up our cross, and follow Jesus, we renounce what others may think, and now we are more interested in what God thinks, and we want to think like him, he is the major influence any more.  And the others in your past just don’t get it.  And just like riding, you cannot explain it, how do you describe an infinite God in finite terms to a natural mind not in the spirit?  And soon their opinions become a burden, where the spirit brings life.

Lastly God told Abram to leave his father’s house, to break ties with the past.  As a new creature in Christ, we now read the Bible and want to, we get it.  We attend church, Bible studies, and pray for others-openly.  We no longer depend on what we used to have, but now depend completely on God.  The name Jesus Christ means something, and as once it was cursed, now we revere it and use it to worship.  We have become part of a new covenant, a new family, and have a new life.  We depend on God to carry us to places where we cannot carry ourselves, we depend on and in him, rather than our own talents, education, traditions, and old friends.  We are born again, and with Jesus Christ guiding us via his spirit, we find life to be worth the living.

And so it was the day that Abram learned to ride.  He found freedom in God whom he had worshipped, but never knew personally.  He saw others riding, but never thought he would or could.  And then God changed his heart, and he became the father of a mighty nation.  Suddenly and over time he wanted to ride with God, and go where God directed.  He found value in a relationship with him, trust won out over tradition, old values, old friends, and old ways of doing things.  He was free from philosophy, and now had freedom to worship, as he was guided by God and not his own desires.  And the same thing happens when we come to Christ, old friends and old values fade away, we find joy and peace we never knew, and we see things through the eyes of Christ, instead of the eyes of opinion.  It can be as exciting as your first ride, and last longer, the brotherhood found among bikers a far second to that with Christ and other believers.  And when you become that new creature, it is like the first time they hear you ride, some are curious, some resentful, others just think you are nuts.  They don’t get the change from double knit to leather, the brotherhood of bikers, or why you find freedom in it.  They are still bound by laws and misconceptions, they may be interested the same way we were, and just need to be invited along for a ride.  And told about Jesus.  No preaching, just sharing your ride, let the spirit change them as he does you.  And soon they will change, and then it is up to them to try to explain Jesus in terms others don’t get.

If you happen to ride and know Jesus personally, you get it.  If not no words can change you, but our testimonies will influence you.  The Holy Spirit is telling you right now “you need Jesus,” and we all have a different testimony.  Share yours with others, and if you haven’t got one, today is the day of salvation.  Maybe for you.  The first day Abram rode with God must have been exciting and scary all at once.  But as the miles passed, so did the fear, the excitement grew and the rides became longer.  Leave your past behind, new roads lie ahead, only in Christ will you ever see them.  Roads not found on any GPS, roads only found like Abram did with God.  It all starts that first day you ride with him, for Abram it began the first day he left Ur, for me the first day I found Jesus.  Saying nothing is really saying no, don’t be a buddy seat sitter all your life.  Grab life by the handlebars and find the freedom in the spirit others have who know Christ Jesus.  And you won’t have to explain, just a nod when we meet will do, we get it.  The question is do you?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25bikerbiker.blogspot.com

parable of the golf date

I would like to go on record as to the fact I do not play golf.  I once did, and in fact wasn’t really too bad a golfer, but any game where the low score wins I lose interest in.  To me golf can best be described as one swing, and 4 minutes walking to the next one.  Boring.  Exercise it ain’t, for no one walks any more.  And for me that is boring.  Time consuming, and expensive.  Which all add up to frustrating, so why golf when I can ride.  How exciting is driving a golf ball when you can ride a motorcycle?  And like I said I wasn’t a bad golfer, I really wasn’t a good one either.  Until mini bikes and motorcycles mixed with girls took over my life, I played every morning in the summer.  I was never a long driver, but straight, very rarely off the fairway.  My putting game was good, usually down in 2 or 3.  But get me with 10-20 yards of the green, and I was looking at 4 shots just to get there.  It was either too much, and finding the downhill run on the other side landing me in the lake, or if I didn’t reach the lake, hitting it too hard again over the green, back where I started. Too much club you could trace my divots to the green, and while those others in the foursome waited patiently, I grew more impatient.  My game could best be described at that point like the old Dennis the Menace cartoon, where Dennis proudly claims “good thing I went along today, Dad got his highest score ever.” 

Now the 17th fairway at Ashbrook was a dogleg to the right, with a pond at the turn.  Good golfers could hit over it, for me I stored balls there for later.  Only to have them resold back to me by the kid who lived right off the green on 17, his wagon filled with balls that had gone in his yard, or he fished from the pond.  Quite the entrepreneur at age 12, used balls for 25 cents.  All from donations from golfers like me.  So I don’t play golf, I don’t even like it the game.  You can have it, and the only redeeming quality I can find it has is that it keeps you from driving on the roads I ride.   And if those who golf drive a car like they drive a golf ball, we are all better off. 

But miniature golf, that’s different.  Or it used to be, I was a good putter and could navigate the windmills and bricks placed between me and the hole.  Strange bends, uphills leading to bends you couldn’t see, I was there.  Until one night on a date with Marcia, and my game fell apart.  I had a bad case of the yips, and made every bad shot you could.  After bragging in front of the crowd how good I was, I was embarrassed, and cussing myself out over every missed shot.  Silently of course.  But as the night drug on, and my shots got worse, hers got better.  You could have blindfolded her and she would make them, and then there was me.....and after the first nine I was still ahead, she was that bad!  But the back nine was her chance to improve, and she did, as I stayed mired in the dulldrums.  And when we sat down she was excited, she even had a couple of holes in one.  We stood and added up each others scores, and I was beyond embarrassed.  She had beaten me, fair and square for what that was worth, and was smiling out loud, laughing.  And I was, well embarrassed.  But cool, so as not to show it.  And then she caught me off guard, giving me a great big hug, she exclaimed “that was so sweet of you to let me win!”  Let’s just say I could not have planned it any better, so kept my mouth shut.  And soon my horrible golf game had turned into the romantic move of the night.  No other strategy could have made her any happier, or think I was more caring than my losing.  And it got better...

As she told her friends on the phone that night after getting home, she bragged how sweet I was to let her win.  All the other boyfriends ridiculed their dates, I had kept my mouth shut from embarrassment and it worked.  My loss turned out to be my gain.  A dating maneuver that others would later claim for their own was started that night by me.  And so you see, I really don’t like golf, but it does have it good sides.  But so does keeping your mouth shut.

Funny how the tongue can get you in trouble, or keep you out.  Being a charter member of the”I’ll Show You and Say Something Stupid Club” I am still learning while silence is golden.  And if you don’t say it, it is harder to be misquoted.  James warns us that the tongue can be evil, with it we both praise God, but then curse his creation.  Or worse him.  Can fresh water and bad water come from the same spring?  Scripture also alludes to us that what is on our heart, will come out of our mouths.  Also our attitudes, hmmm?  Maybe he is on to something here....Jesus tells us the tongue is a world of evil waiting to corrupt us, spreading wildfires like the gates of hell if not controlled.  Both my golf game and putting were out of character for me that night, but by being silent I was vindicated.  In my silence, I lost the round, but won the date.  If only life were that simple, a good reminder can be this parable of the golf game.  If you don’t say it, it cannot be repeated. And is harder to misquote.  But showing love when it is on your heart, which can only come from a loving God, reveals God in you.  No one has seen God, but many will see you today.  Be the one that the Bible speaks of in love, show Jesus in actions and attitudes, using words when needed.  My golf game needed help that night, but my dating game increased because of it.  Proving all things work for good for those called by God.  Right there in Romans.  And if it works for golf, and dating, imagine how it can improve your riding skill?  Social skills?  Your relationship with Christ? 

Avoid the rush of being known as the unstable man, who has problems in all his ways.  Let the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be pleasing to the Lord.  Do not be double minded, saying one thing and doing another.  God doesn’t keep score, others do.  And are sure to remind you when you aren’t up to par.  I never let Marcia know I didn’t let her win on purpose.  That was a gift from me I didn’t know I was giving.  Everyone likes to be a winner, she won twice that night.  But so did I. And you can too.  When it appears all hope is lost, remember it appeared that way at the cross.  But three days later it all changed-forever.  Jesus will change your heart, and your game.  And its plans.  He didn’t say he who has a mouth let him speak, he did say he who has an ear let him hear.  Proven one night at miniature golf, on a date we both would remember.  Unlucky at cards, lucky at love....I find trusting Jesus much better.  And you can quote me on that.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com