"...the first rule is obey all rules..."

Barney Fife: Now here at the Rock we have two rules. Memorize them
until you can say them in your sleep. Rule number one: obey all rules.
Rule number two: no writing on the walls

During a tour of the Mayberry Jail, Deputy Barney Fife told the crowd, “there are two rules in the jail, first rule is obey all rules.  The second, don’t write on the walls because it is hard to get off.”  Obey all rules.  That one sticks with me.  I remember a woman I knew in San Diego who worked for OSHA, who told me “it is impossible for me to know all the rules, but I can promise you I can walk into any business and find something wrong.”    Gives new hope in the meaning “hi I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”  But rules are everywhere, and are made to protect us, often times from ourselves.  And from writing on the walls.  An old joke on Laugh In, when before Pigmeat Markham playing the judge, he tells the guilty party “30 dollars or 30 days.”  And the defendant replies “I’ll take the $30!”  As if he was given a choice of a prize.  I have been given tickets for 56 in a 55, and let go for riding over 100 in the same speed limited area.  Sometimes it has to do with no officer present, or as in the stretch between Escondido and Temecula on I-15, law enforcement every couple of miles.  Always with someone pulled over.   The worst case is outside Junction, Texas on I-10, the number 1 speed trap in the US of A.  Where I got pulled over and cited for 76 in a 70 zone, and the sheriff was back in his Bronco and across the freeway giving another before we could get back on the bike.  Revenue enhancement I call it, free money to the county, nothing about protecting and serving.  At least the Colorado Highway Patrol officer who nailed Rex at 70 in a 55 was honest, he only ticketed Rex, as he told me he couldn’t reload the radar gun in time to get me also.  So even within the rules, there are rules.  Just to see that we obey the rules.  And if a government official from OSHA can’t know them all, how can we?  Maybe we need a Mayberry approach to life, “obey all rules.”  Just so we know what they are.  But do we?

Today many advocate the 10 Commandments as how to run their lives.  Or live their lives.  More laws. Given by God to Moses, because his people were unruly-without rules.  10 of them, 4 of how to have a relationship with God, but 6 with man.  Does that mean it is easier to please God than man?  Does God judge easier?  Good rules to live by, and taken down from over the 600 God gave to the Jews earlier.  Talk about a homework assignment, “toddy class you will memorize the first 50 laws of Moses...” is that a rule?  But even ten was too much for any mortal man to comprehend, and the way the law is stated, you have to be guilty of it to be found doing it.  The law does not reward, it condemns.  And only works if you are not found guilty-notice I didn’t say innocent.  There is a difference.  But God is love, so he sent Jesus his son to do what the law could not do-save us from our sin, and from the law.

Ask any seasoned Christian about the law of Jesus and they may stop and wonder for a minute.  Didn’t Jesus come to fulfill the law?  Wasn’t he perfect and didn’t break any of them?  Including the over 600 original?  That alone makes him unique.  But when leaving his disciples, he leaves them with two commands, two laws.  One directive.  Love God with all your heart and mind.  Then love man the same.  Two laws that we argue over.  That we debate, and have trouble obeying.  If you think love is an emotion, you already failed, for love is a person.  God is love.  And in 1 Corinthians, the love chapter, it tells us that love is patient, etc.  Describing God, in case you ever meet him.  Same with the fruit of the spirit-it describes the character of God.  And to the end, Jesus showed unwavering, unbiased, without requirement love to Judas.  Knowing Judas was to turn him over to a death sentence, he gave him the best seat at the Last Supper.  Judas sat at his right hand, the seat of preference, just as Jesus sits at the right hand of God-the preferred seat in heaven.  He offered him chance after chance to repent, as we know Judas responded by denying Jesus, he was driven by the spirit of Satan, instead of the spirit of God.  The one sin that keeps you form heaven, rejecting the holy spirit, who tells you how you need Jesus, who reveals the truth of him to us, he denied.  Judas died for his own sins, Jesus died for ours.  And was willing to die for Judas’ also.  He loved Judas with no reservation, no bias, even knowing his heart to the end.  That’s love.  Agape, it’s called, a love only God can show for us.  If only we trusted him enough to believe his promise, “you shall do greater things...” and there is nothing greater than God’s love.  You cannot kill it, even nailed to a cross it never died, but rose again.  And today his spirit is still moving, telling a dying world that it needs Jesus.   Not demanding like the law, we love because he loved us first.  You cannot legislate love or morality.  Look around.  But you can choose Jesus, for love does not demand its own way.  Jesus is a choice, so is his love. 

Today we see law and order proclaimed from TV to patrol cars.  Hoping that by keeping the law, order follows.  Yet we see the opposite.  For God’s love also does one important thing the law cannot-it forgives.  Forgiveness through Jesus Christ, setting the example so we can forgive others.  And ourselves, often the hardest person to forgive.  No laws of law or in love.  Just Jesus.  And without him in your life, you don’t have love.  He still loves you, you just haven’t accepted it.  Would you accept his love today?  If you have fallen from it, turn back?  Then go show someone.  A postcard once told me, “don’t brag about what a great lover you are, show me.”  If you have to tell me you are a Christian, maybe you need to show it more.  Go forgive someone.  Show compassion to one who is unlovable.  Love your enemy as Jesus instructs.  Find and forgive the Judas in your life who betrayed you.  The gospel is that simple, so we can do it.  Free so we can afford it.  Barney’s advice came close, obey all rules.  Jesus made the rules simple-love.  Let him show you how today.  Start living being forgiven.  Trust God in obedience to his love, the love he showed us.  Love written on your heart, not on tablets of stone.  No writing on the walls, Jesus made it that personal.  Obey all rules.  Love Jesus, love your enemy, enjoy life.  Only in Christ will you know all the rules.  Love.  Let’s ride.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

two if by land

We pulled into the parking lot at the Lodge at Crater Lake after along days ride.  The cooler air felt good, and nowhere, not even Lake Tahoe can compare with the blue of the Lake.  We had just gotten off and were stretching when an SUV driven by a mother and filled with kids pulled up next to us.  Getting out she took one look at us and asked “wanna trade?”  Maybe it was the altitude, maybe the car load of boys, but I like to think it was the motorcycle.  The others were just the catalyst, but she saw the freedom of the ride.  We never exchanged pleasantries, and just nodded, but so much was said in so few words.  Such is the freedom of riding.  And even after a long ride, a good stretch, a Tootsie Roll and a Coke later, we would look forward to getting back on the bike and riding again.  No such remedy awaited her in the car.  Adjust the seat and mirror, turn on the AC, pop in a CD and they would be off.  The only seat adjustments we would make would be leaning in the curves, the cool air refreshing us as it surrounded us at speed, and the triple making beautiful music as we ran it through the gears.  No one riding ever asked anyone in an SUV “wanna trade?”

Talking with a man one afternoon, he was bragging about all the places he had been.  He talked of cities in the US of A, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, Miami, and other metro areas.  I kept up with him, mentioning roads taken along he way, and he lost interest.  Bummed, then upset.  For he had flown to all these places, many on vacation, but yet could not identify with any of the places I had been.  He had flown from airport to airport, taxied to his motel, but never seen the city.  Another taxi ride at night for dinner, and guided tours of tourist places dotted his itinerary.  He had been there, but hadn’t been anywhere.  He saw nothing more than what he could have seen in a brochure or website.  We had been to the same cities, but much different cities.  He flew over the Arch in St. Louis, I parked my bike under it.  He flew into Detroit, we rode through it.  He never felt the loss of power at a mile high in Denver, we did as we rode into it, and over the mountains to the west.  He never felt the humidity of Miami, except for a brief walk from taxi to club, we later enjoyed the AC in our room after riding in the heat.  He  bought postcards, Theresa took pictures.  Which trip would you rather take? Which one makes you want to go again, anywhere?  Does a sight of an airport make you hunger for a trip, or does just walking past your motorcycle in the garage call out to you to ride?  Anywhere?  Any time?  Why not call in sick and ride for therapy?  Have you ever seen  a motorcycle parked in front of a travel agency?

So when traveling we prefer two if by land.  Cars are optional, we took a trip a few weeks back in the Mustang, and riding in a car is a novelty to us.  But we missed riding, meeting the people, and filling up for half price.  We were in air conditioned comfort, no helmet head, no bugs, and lots of luggage courtesy of the trunk.  And I wished I was on a motorcycle the whole time.  One trip through Texas from California to New Jersey expressed it best.  Stopping for gas outside Amarillo the wind was blowing, raining hard, and it was cold.  I had to lean against my bike to steady it as I filled it, the wind was so bad.  Looking over at the next pump was a Lincoln filled with people, the windows fogged from their breathing.  My only thought was no way would I want to trade.  Even in the rain and wind, it was an easy choice.  I fact it was no choice at all.  And taking off the weather didn’t seem to matter any more....it was all about the ride.  Two if by land....

Even with a passenger, with limited communication, you can feel like you are riding alone.  But even riding single, I am never by myself.  Jesus promised that if he went away, he would send a helper.  A friend to guide us, he tells his disciples in John “I will not leave you as orphans.”  They had to be afraid, he had warned them of his death, and being with him they could face death too.  But he would not abandon them, and he had to die so he would be resurrected.  Only dead things that once had life can be resurrected.  But until he returned for us he promised us the Holy spirit to guide us.  Described as the comforter, counselor, and friend.  A prayer partner so you can never be alone, for wherever two or three are gathered Jesus is among us.  Need an amen, the spirit is there.  Maybe just amen what the spirit tells you-even better.  So I never ride alone.  Never eat alone, and never get lonely.  I may ride by myself but I am never alone.  The spirit of the Lord is with me.  And until we are called home to heaven, the spirit is with us. 

And loves to communicate with us.  While praying one afternoon, I looked back on a trip I had just taken, and found myself in prayer telling Jesus all about it.  Guided by the spirit, he was with me in every turn, and I felt like I had shared precious time with a good friend.  All prayer is not about asking for help, share some of your times with Jesus.  If he had a Facebook page, would you friend him?  Go deeper in you relationship guided by the spirit.  We fellowship with others, do we ever fellowship with Jesus?  Think of the tales he could tell us of his travels, and if he asked us “wanna trade?” I gladly would give my sin over to him again for his presence in my life.  Heaven awaits, but we don’t need to be in heaven to spend time with him.  The spirit is willing, are you?

At the day of Pentecost 3000 came to the Lord as the spirit was unleashed.  3000 individuals found Christ.  Personally.  One on one, and it is the same today.  One on one.  You are never alone with Jesus in your life.  God is still pouring out his spirit, and wants you to have all he has for you.  Until that day when Jesus returns, we are never alone.

So next time someone asks “are you in the Word?” answer like I do, “is the Word in you?”  Jesus is the Word, and he left his spirit to be in us.  Are you guided by words or the Word?  Some read about Jesus, I want to experience all he has.  I want to see more of him in my life, and in yours.  To share testimonies of him in our lives.  And even when not riding, prefer two if by land.  Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.  Riding and living in the spirit-get all God has for you today.  The spirit is willing....wanna trade?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

living in a world of dirty shovels

It took me a few times to understand the movie The Maltese Falcon.  A few years too young to see it on the big screen in a theater, I have the luxury of channel surfing until something comes along I like, and most of my viewings of it have been like that.  Missing the beginning a standard theme, so never getting the full effect.  Some day I hope to, but for now I have seen the middle and end many times.  And each time get deeper involved.  It is essentially about a group of people chasing after the mythical Maltese Falcon, a jewel encrusted bird.  From sea to shining sea, and beyond them, characters like Miss O’Shaughnessy, The Fat Man, and Joel Cairo chasing after it.  When Miss O and then Cairo enlist Sam Spade, played by Bogie, it gets even more interesting, and the hunt intensifies.  Following various leads, they will do anything to find it, including murder, forming an alliance with each other, and eventually selling each other out after implicating Spade.  And when they finally capture a bird, and discover it is a fake, they shrug, and go off after the next lead to find it.  Miss O going to jail for murder.  And when Sam’s secretary asks him what is so important about the bird, he replies “it is the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Centuries ago a young man named Alex set out to conquer the world.  And in doing so, at least what he thought was the world, became bored when he thought there were no more lands to conquer.  And subsequently died, unfulfilled.  Maybe a seasoned writer/philosopher Sam Clemons, aka Mark Twain was right when he wrote 150 years ago “the only thing worse than not getting your heart’s desire is getting your heart’s desire.”  Many are in it for the thrill of the hunt, and today we see it at collector car auctions, where lifelong collections are sold off, and the old owner going on to something else.  People changing careers because they cannot go any higher up in rank.  Athletes, although rarely, quitting at their peak.  And sadly many giving up on God, after they feel he has done all he can for them.  Or met all their desires.  Or even worse when they feel he hasn’t lived up to their expectations.  Very popular.  And then they go searching for another god, or another form of godliness, falling short of salvation only found in Jesus Christ.  It seems there is always someone, or some group willing to take them in, and satisfy their curiosity, while robbing them of their souls.  Such groups come under the guise of religion, some even use the name of Jesus in their name, some deny his deity all together, but claim to be God’s witnesses, and some are just plain deceitful.  Leaving the one who is seeking at a loss.  Only Jesus saves, all the others are false gods, leading to destruction.

Living in New Mexico I dealt with many Indian tribes, where tent revivals were popular.  And the Indians would just add their theology to the list of what they already had.  In institutions we see Monday night Baptists, Tuesday Catholics, Wednesday Church of Christ, Thursday Mormons, and Friday Lutherans, each with a specific spin on God.  Some claim you need good works, some by joining their church, some by obeying the rules they set forth, and some by just baptism.  Forgetting that only Jesus saves, and many fall prey to religion, denominations, and churches, when they really are seeking God.  Who may or may not be found in any of them.  It takes the spirit to lead you to Christ, religion binds you to rules, no freedom there, and rob you of salvation.  Only in Jesus do you find the “person that dreams are made of,” yet many are in it for the hunt, an intellectual or theological affair, or to prove God wrong.  Changing the Bible, adding to it, or even denying it is the Word of God, making it sound good, but leaving out Jesus. 

Today the culture screams to get along with each other, just so long as you agree with them.  Just like their free speak belief, just as long as you believe in their words, and not your own.  Deny God, join the club, and be popular.  And maybe even obtaining a form of godliness, but never getting God with it.  And for those who speak against their heresy, they are labeled hate mongers, bigoted, and judgmental.  All by the ones who are guilty of it themselves.  Maybe we need to take Bob Lutz’s advice, automotive legend with GM, Chrysler, and BMW, “don’t be afraid to call a spade a dirty shovel.”  And we live among a world of dirty shovels, trying to rob us of our joy of knowing Jesus, knowing the enemy, and then identifying him are two different things.  Anything that denies Jesus is a dirty shovel.  Same with religion that tells you “only our way.”  Churches are no better, substituting for a relationship with Christ, and too many attend church faithfully, with no faith in Jesus ever placed.  The pastor is the man, not Jesus. 

But calling a spade a dirty shovel will get you into trouble socially.  The truth may set you free, but in a world of false beliefs, and filled with dirty shovels, a clean one stands out.  And any time you take a stand for something, including Jesus, you become a target.  Just like scripture tells you will happen.   From jokes, to being made fun of, to being persecuted, choosing Jesus makes you an enemy of the world.  And of the dirty shovels.  But you can know the truth and be set free, but only in Jesus.  No works added, only Jesus.  No special services, donations, or cultic practices-only Jesus.  And the good news is, if you are a dirty shovel, he can make you a clean one.  Are you still seeking a Maltese Falcon in your life, or are you seeking God?  Do you want forgiveness along with joy and peace, with heaven thrown in, or do you believe this is all there is and you die and that is it.  Don’t give up hope, turn to Jesus, and make it real.  Chanting the names of the Lord will not set you free, it is rumored that up until his death George Harrison hoped he would get to heaven, but wasn’t sure in his beliefs.  Only in Christ are you assured the truth. 

Seek and you will find.  God that is in Christ.  Reality tells us that you will never be rich enough, thin enough, or have all the toys.  Don’t believe that stupid saying “he who dies with the most toys wins.”  He still dies, and cannot take his toys with him.  Believe in someone who can resurrect you upon death, who can guide you through the maze of Falcons that try to deter you, don’t try to gain the world only to lose your soul.  When dirty shovel theology comes at you, know the truth, and Jesus is that truth.  Be set free.  Be born again.  Be assured of heaven upon death.  Know Jesus and know peace.  “Just the facts,” one Joe Friday tells us.  Be the Sam Spade among the dirty shovels, and know the truth and let him set you free.  All others keep looking....only in Jesus will you find” the person that dreams are made of.”

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

reach out and touch someone

Way back in BC days, Before Cellphones, we used to talk on a land line.  To me still the most reliable, as a few years back I came upon a biker in an accident, and he had no cell coverage.  I had to go to 3 farmhouses, some 20 miles, to finally get a land line for an ambulance.  And I was amazed at how easily I got through, because the farmers were on a party line, a shared line, not the pay per minute 976 numbers many use today.  I picked up the phone, dialed, no push buttons here, and soon a person came on the other end, we talked, not texted so I could answer questions quickly, and soon he was on his way to the hospital ER.  Truly technology was a good thing, but it didn’t work where there are no cells for phones.  A device we take for granted, personal they even call them, with no party lines in sight.

When I was a teenager the phone was important.  Still in the dial up era, in 8th grade for good grades my parents got me an extension phone I my room, with push buttons-suddenly it was 1968!  And got rid of the party line, which cost them an extra dollar a month.   But maybe an explanation of what a party line is will help here.  Think of a party line as one number with different extensions.  Each number being an extension, but you can only call that extension when the other lines are open.  If someone else on the party line is on it, you cannot call out, and the caller gets a busy signal. Which makes it hard to get through sometimes, it seems someone is always on the phone.  And even 37 years ago when first married and living at Vallecito Lake, we had a party line. Which we paid for by the mile, 27 miles from town.  Which beat walking down to the phone booth, more evidence of days gone by, and stand in the cold and snow.  Today everyone except for me has a cell phone, with call waiting, texting, and voice mail.  Which makes it possible to talk on the phone without ever talking to a real person.  And we consider that communicatin?  So much for the old ad “reach out and touch someone, reach out and just say hi,” and they call them personal. Impersonal is more like it.  Which may explain why so many don’t get it when you tell them about a personal relationship with God through Jesus.  God is just a text message away...and they can text in church, you know who you are.  And never have to talk or listen to God.  But long before phones, God provided a way to talk to and with us.  Called prayer, it receives and both sends messages from the heart.  Spoken and unspoken.  Better than any text, and you always get through.  And so does God, yet many have put him on mute.  Or don’t want to hear from him, or when they do don’t like his answer.  Bad coverage they claim, yet the system isn’t the problem, they are.

And God has made it easy.  One way to him, only through Jesus Christ.  Which some call narrow minded.  Don’t all roads lead to God?  Don’t all phone calls get through?  There are no party lines to God, no call waiting.  And he makes it easy with Jesus. One way.  Only one number to remember.  One person to call.  And he is so caring and loving, he gets every call exactly as you place it.  And answers to, if only we didn’t put him on hold.  Many ways to God is a lie, and only can cause confusion.  What if God was on a party line?  And you poured your heart out to some stranger, or strange God who led you astray?  Which is why God has only one way, so we don’t get led astray.  What part of easy don’t you get?  Yet many don’t want the personal communication, and suffer for it.  Jesus is the way, the life.  The only way to God.  If only your cell phone had one number and it was his.  Yet many prefer to try other methods and wonder why they never get an answer.  Someone else intercepted the call, and the answer they get back will not be from God.  It might sound good, but only God’s people know his true voice.  How many calls can you identify without looking to see who it is because you cannot identify the voice?  Is this like your prayer life?

So God sent Jesus.  One way, one call, and his line is always open for you.  If it has been awhile, call him right now, he would love to hear from you.  And he also wants us to hear from him.  He calls it communication, a dialogue not a monologue.  Where both participate.   The Bible calls it prayer, and we need it daily, and Psalm 1 tells us to be filled with joy if we meditate, hang out, or communicate with him daily.  And so we have come a long way from party lines.  But has your prayer life?  Are you even basing your salvation on a party line and not a direct line?  Jesus still reaches out and touches lives, let him touch you today, be that someone who he touches.  Just say hi, he would love to hear from you.  Do we want to hear from him?

Long before telecommunications of any level were, Jesus was.  And God established communication early in history with Adam.  One on one.  And that type of communication with God is still available today.  His number is Jesus, just call out and he will answer.  And as you get to know his voice, and get to know him, pretty soon you talk of many things more personal.  And you find that true prayer, true communication with God involves listening too.  And hearing his voice will sound so good, in times of distress and even the good times.  Jesus was the original app, and no device needed.  Remember that next time someone tells you there are many ways to God.  Give him the number that gets them through.  And call him often yourself.  He loves to hear from you.  I hope you love to her from him,too.

Now I regards to pay phones....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

see the USA on your BSA, or why I rather ride

Talking with Jeff, the owner of the Black Lightning Motorcycle Café, a must stop if you ever feel the desire for lousy weather and end up in Eureka, he mentioned he had 6 motorcycles, but only one ran. The others were works in process.  Long ago a friend after seeing my FJ1100 told me he had one too, only a year newer.  I was excited as I knew no one else who had one, but his bike turned out to be a salvage job, rattle can painted, and almost embarrassing to be seen with.  A work in process, I was reminded why we have salvage titles, and insurance companies total bikes.  Yet on another ride through Boulder Canyon when we first were married, we came upon a young guy on an old BSA.  Not sure where he was from, or where he was going, that day it was nowhere.  His bike wouldn’t run, but as he told me, “if I can borrow your tools, I can fix it.”  I was on a new R100S BMW at the time, and BMW’s were known for their fantastic tool kits.  I was about to agree, when seeing a pair of vice grips welded onto the shifter made me change my mind.  Plus I rather spend time with Theresa who was with me, than with this work in process on the side of the road.  See the USA on your BSA, but before setting out, make sure it is running.  I mumbled something, but my excuse was “ not even BMW makes tools that can fix that.”  He smiled and agreed. 

It was called Summer Jam, a summer festival in Watkins Glen, New York, the summer of 1973.  The Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers, in a mini-Woodstock setting.  BH and I rode for hours after work, and got close, about 100 miles was the closest we would get that night, due to traffic.  But at one Y intersection, sat a BMW with the rear tire off.  It was flat, and he had no flat repair kit.  I did, I was on an R60/5 at the time, so we stopped to help.  Cars whizzed by at 10mph as we sat in the dirt changing it, I got it done in a few minutes, not my first flat rodeo, and he laid it by his bike taking a break before putting it back on.  And then a car came by, too close, almost hitting us, but running over the wheel, bending it into a V shape...he waved us on, he knew his ride was over.  Another work in process.  So it seems, no matter the intention, so many of those who ride, ride a motorcycle that is a work in process.  Me, I rather ride than wrench.  And God gave me poor wrenching skills to enforce it.  A fact I am grateful for many miles over.

But before you set out to see the USA on your BSA, or Honda, Triumph, Harley, or Kawasuzimaha, it is always a good idea to have your bike running properly, in good tune, and god tread on your tires.  As I watched my neighbor, a multi-bike rider leave yesterday on one of his bikes with cord showing on his rear tire, his other ride in pieces, I make note how I have left on long trips with some tread remaining, but replace the tires anyway.  Cheaper and safer, along with peace of mind.  But sometimes a spur of the moment ride happens and you can’t.  And you hope you will be OK, and make it back on the tread left.  If only by the grace of God, and it has happened.  We took off on a Labor Day weekend, again on the R100S, riding through Colorado.  Back when cycle shops were closed on Sundays and Mondays, Saturday found my tire needing more tread, Sunday was getting dangerous, and we were still 700 miles from home.  Monday was a holiday, with no chance any bike store being opened, but we came upon a Western Auto in Bromfield, where he didn’t have a tire, but his friend had a Suzuki shop.  Would a Suzuki tire fit on a BMW?  And he called his friend, who came down, opened up, sold me a tire, and using my toolkit, I had it on in minutes, and we were on the road safely again.  Some might call it luck, we knew it was God.  We trusted, even with little faith, but our God is mightier than that.  He provided, and still provides.

Many times Jesus greeted his disciples by telling them to “be of good cheer,” and in the Garden, who told them “do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in God and also trust in me.”  It had to be scary for them, seeing the soldiers coming for Jesus, and maybe for them too, but they found comfort and peace by trusting him.  Sometimes our thoughts of what can happen will scare us, make us make bad decisions, and worry us to death.  Maybe they had considered dying with him, a scary thought, but even scarier was living on without him.  They could not bear to live or die without him.  Such trust is often forgotten when looking at these men, but they gave up everything to follow him, and from faith, to obedience, to trust, they learned they couldn’t live without him, and couldn’t face death without him either.  They were works in process, but in that process had built a relationship of trust, of dependence, and of love with Jesus.  But still the words Jesus spoke reminded them, as he does us, to trust in him.  When the tires  are flat, the bike won’t start, or we start off on a ride when we shouldn’t, he goes with us.  But three little words he spoke should encourage us, and guide us in our decisions.  “Do not let...” it is our decision to follow him, also our choice to worry and not trust.  A matter of the heart.

And having had open heart surgery, I know about “let not my heart being troubled,” as I trust more than ever before.  You don’t have to go through what I did to trust, you can start now with easy things.  Trials and tests will come, but Jesus has overcome, and so have we.  If we trust.  My tire was worn out that day, but God had prepared a new one.  Read Isaiah 65:24, God is answering before we ask.  Do you trust him that much?  Do you trust Jesus?  Funny how we trust him for salvation, but begin to worry when things don’t go our way.  But to some that find the gospel a secret, God reveals himself through Jesus, all the resources and power of a living God are available through Christ Jesus.  Not a secret, because now you know.  To some a new revelation, to those who are saved a reminder.

Jesus Christ is the cure for troubled hearts.  Also troubled rides, troubles along the ride, and in every situation.  He is the toolkit of life, and I never go riding without him.  Only God knows what is ahead, and we cannot ride without him.  And will not.  Such is trust, we like him along.  And for the blessings also of his presence.  Face it life is scary, and on a bike they are all out to get you.  We must carry insurance, I choose to carry Jesus with me also.  I prefer to be of good cheer rather than worry.  So “do not let your heart be troubled,” you can choose Jesus too.  Three little words from Jesus that can change your life, and you ride. 

Ride your own ride, but never ride alone.  Trust me, I know.  Because I know Jesus.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com