You may know that I ride a motorcycle to work.
It’s a bright red, brand new, shiny, 800cc – wait, I already digress.
I ride a motorcycle to work. I only started
riding 3 years ago, in order to ride in the HOV lanes. Since then I’ve logged
more than 40,000 miles. I’ve loved every minute of it, if you don’t count the
times I fell over in the driveway before I knew what I was doing. Now I’m
riding my second motorcycle – did I mention that it’s red, and new?
Since riding on two wheels is a lot different from
driving with four, I had to find out how to do it. Before I touched a
motorcycle, I took a class, which taught me a lot, but mostly it taught me how
to learn how to ride. It also gave me a discount on my insurance, but that
really has nothing to do with what I want to say here …
The main thing I’ve learned in those 40,000-plus
miles – up to around 2,000 on my new, shiny red one – is that there’s always
more to learn. That is, there’s always more to learn if I want to become really
good at riding, and I do, especially since – did I mention this yet? - my bike
is new, red and shiny and I don’t want to get any scratches on it.
Mrs. Ferrell would prefer that I don’t get any
scratches on me, either.
So what I do is practice the things that I’ve
learned. Today, on the way to work, for instance, I was practicing shifting
smoothly, because I don’t want to ruin the gearbox on my shiny red, powerful,
awesome – and it’s new – bike. I’m getting better at it. I am
always practicing as I ride, refining my approach to turns in the road, working
on my braking skills, riding defensively in traffic – not just to keep my new,
red shiny motorcycle from getting scratched, but to ride safely so that I can
keep riding tomorrow.
I learn from practicing. I also learn from other
people who’ve ridden motorcycles a lot more than I have. I have a friend who
used to race motorcycles – he also has a new, shiny bike, but his is just blue
– and he has taught me a great deal. I learn a lot from members of a motorcycle
club (not gang!) that I belong to, as well.
And I also learn from reading books, like
“Proficient Motorcycling,” by David Hough. I read a good bit of it this summer,
and picked up on some things I was doing wrong, so when I got on my new, red
shiny motorcycle, I was better prepared. Reading it also saved me from hitting
a deer the other evening. In the book Hough says, “You’ll do whatever your
habit is” in an emergency; the other night I’d already made a new good habit
after reading his book, and it saved me from getting scratches all over me and
my new, red shiny, powerful motorcycle, not to mention the deer.
Oh yeah, and Mrs. Ferrell didn't get any dents or
scratches, either; she was riding on the back seat.
Hough also encourages his readers to pick his
book up a couple or three times a year to refresh the memory on how to motor
safely along on your new, shiny red machine.
One of the main principles involved in riding a
motorcycle (or driving a car, for that matter) is to look all the way through a
turn, keeping your head pointed that way, your eyes fixed on a point past the
turn on the road. If you don’t learn to do this well, you have a good chance of
wrecking.
Do these things sound familiar?
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “… at 65 mph, maintain a
minimum following distance of …”
Hang on, wrong book. Here it is: “Therefore,
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay
aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.”
If we want to be really good at our faith, we
have to keep our eyes – meaning our whole selves – on Christ, refusing to be
distracted by the world around us. If we don’t, we can run right off the road:
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is
wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who
enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to
life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
We build our faith, learn Godly skills for
living, and grow, from God’s Word, the Bible: “So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) But because the road we travel
is narrow, and this world is fast, we need to immerse ourselves in His Truth,
not just speed-read a couple times a year. To keep our eyes locked on Him, we
need Him constantly, and we need to slow down enough through study and
listening – and ultimately, we should come to a place where we want nothing
else.
Finally, we don’t walk this road alone. Christ
gave us fellow believers to walk alongside of us, who help us by keeping us
accountable, by encouraging us with Godly truth and love when we fall down and
scratch our shiny new, red motorcycle, and simply by being our friend when we
really don’t deserve it – just like Christ is our friend while “we were yet
sinners.”
Colossians 3 says in verses 15-17: “Let the peace
of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and
be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God
the Father.”
Now, those are words to live and ride by! We are
called to live worthy and obedient lives in unity and fellowship with other
believers - all for the highest purpose there is: We ride for God's glory!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, even if you hate
motorcycles, or even if your favorite color is blue, come to church on Sunday.
Come to Sunday School; go to the service. Come to learn more of how to get
along better on your “faith ride,” and because we need you there, too!
And most of all, come "in the name of the Lord Jesus!"
See you there!
Mr. Ferrell
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