I Brake For...
We’ve all seen them...bumper stickers that say “I brake for…” and then add some silly saying or object, such as "moose", "tailgaters", "doughnuts", "unicorns", "redheads" (my personal favorite), "nobody" (call me nobody, really!), "just to make you swerve", or "for no apparent reason". They are limited only by the imagination.
I saw one online today that reminds me of me: “I brake for…wait…AAAH!…NO BRAKES!” My brakes have been grinding, that’s right, grinding, for the past few weeks. I have been trying to extend the life of my brakes, or what’s left of them, by trying a few tricks. I don’t drive as fast – that’s a good thing. Sometimes I shift the car to neutral ahead of applying the brakes so that there is not so much torque pushing the vehicle, and I begin braking much earlier so I can push gently to slow the momentum of the van. Still the brakes grind. It's worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. Sometimes I can feel the vibrations throughout the vehicle. Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase "drive through".
I noticed a friend’s 16-year-old daughter driving off the other day and I lamented that my daughter will soon be driving too. I thought about all the wisdom I could impart to her – a list of dos and a much longer list of don’ts, mostly coming from experience. Safety will be the number one priority for my daughter. I want to wrap her in the safest, most reliable vehicle available. Perhaps one of the local military bases has a used tank they will part with cheap. Probably one of the most important things I could tell her is to properly maintain her vehicle. Not only is it usually much cheaper to catch problems early, but it is also definitely much safer. OK, OK, I know what you are thinking: “DUH! Why don’t you take your own advice, DUFUS?!!” (Come on, I know you have been thinking this for a while.) Well, payday is right around the corner.
How often do we dispense spiritual counsel and saintly wisdom, only to ignore our own advice? Jesus asks the question like this, “How can you say, ‘My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don't see the log in your own eye?” Matthew 7:4. Too often we instruct our brothers and sisters how to improve their spiritual walk or how to overcome some transgression, while we struggle with the very same sins, secretly or not. At times, we wallow in the same mire, thinking we can pull ourselves out, or not really wanting to. The blind leading the blind? Sometimes, but not always. We like to think in terms of black and white, but at times we see in bright, vivid, alluring colors that cause us to intentionally blur the demarcations between right and wrong. We, like Paul, know what is right, we just don’t do it. Romans 7:15. This, in itself is sin. James 4:17. It’s good to know we are not alone.
So how do we fight back? We first need to ask for wisdom and a discerning heart like Solomon did in I Kings 3. Second, we need to realize that Father knows best. We need to realize that we don’t know everything, but God does. In Isaiah 55:8-9, God tells Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice. Proverbs 1:7. I guess that sometimes we need to listen to God as he speaks to our hearts.
“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths.” Psalms 25:4.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to "stop" by the mechanic.
I saw one online today that reminds me of me: “I brake for…wait…AAAH!…NO BRAKES!” My brakes have been grinding, that’s right, grinding, for the past few weeks. I have been trying to extend the life of my brakes, or what’s left of them, by trying a few tricks. I don’t drive as fast – that’s a good thing. Sometimes I shift the car to neutral ahead of applying the brakes so that there is not so much torque pushing the vehicle, and I begin braking much earlier so I can push gently to slow the momentum of the van. Still the brakes grind. It's worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. Sometimes I can feel the vibrations throughout the vehicle. Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase "drive through".
I noticed a friend’s 16-year-old daughter driving off the other day and I lamented that my daughter will soon be driving too. I thought about all the wisdom I could impart to her – a list of dos and a much longer list of don’ts, mostly coming from experience. Safety will be the number one priority for my daughter. I want to wrap her in the safest, most reliable vehicle available. Perhaps one of the local military bases has a used tank they will part with cheap. Probably one of the most important things I could tell her is to properly maintain her vehicle. Not only is it usually much cheaper to catch problems early, but it is also definitely much safer. OK, OK, I know what you are thinking: “DUH! Why don’t you take your own advice, DUFUS?!!” (Come on, I know you have been thinking this for a while.) Well, payday is right around the corner.
How often do we dispense spiritual counsel and saintly wisdom, only to ignore our own advice? Jesus asks the question like this, “How can you say, ‘My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don't see the log in your own eye?” Matthew 7:4. Too often we instruct our brothers and sisters how to improve their spiritual walk or how to overcome some transgression, while we struggle with the very same sins, secretly or not. At times, we wallow in the same mire, thinking we can pull ourselves out, or not really wanting to. The blind leading the blind? Sometimes, but not always. We like to think in terms of black and white, but at times we see in bright, vivid, alluring colors that cause us to intentionally blur the demarcations between right and wrong. We, like Paul, know what is right, we just don’t do it. Romans 7:15. This, in itself is sin. James 4:17. It’s good to know we are not alone.
So how do we fight back? We first need to ask for wisdom and a discerning heart like Solomon did in I Kings 3. Second, we need to realize that Father knows best. We need to realize that we don’t know everything, but God does. In Isaiah 55:8-9, God tells Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice. Proverbs 1:7. I guess that sometimes we need to listen to God as he speaks to our hearts.
“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths.” Psalms 25:4.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to "stop" by the mechanic.
posted by Carl Wheeler at 10:00 PM
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