Okay, I admit it. I love analogies. I like hearing them and even more, I like coming up with them. Tonight, while at church, something the Pastor said sparked a new one. Are you ready for it? Here it is…
Our lives have been call a spiritual journey, a walk with Christ, etc. Well, I’d like to compare it to trying to follow someone across country. Let’s say Jesus is driving home. He tells you that if you want to go where He’s going you need to follow him and keep up. Now, Jesus isn’t driving a fancy sports car that’s going to run off an leave you. Nor is He driving like a ‘Sunday driver.’ He sets His pace near the speed limit being careful not to go over and follows all traffic rules and regulations. However, He’s one of these people who seem to never get caught at a red light and never get cut off.
You, on the other hand, do get caught at red lights. The red lights of distraction. These cause you to fall behind and, even if for just a moment, take your eyes of Jesus. Then you’ve got to play catch up. Then, just as you’re getting close again, some jerk pulls out in front of you and you have to hit the breaks just to keep from rear ending the fool, this fool’s name could be any number of things but in the end, he’s just another distraction. So, you catch up with Jesus and you follow Him for a while longer. After a while you start getting bored. You tell yourself, I know where He’s going so I think I’ll turn up ahead at this next exit and rest, buy a few things, maybe catch a movie then I’ll just catch up with Jesus a little later. So we do, and we have a good time, but then things start going wrong. You can’t figure out why though, I mean, you’re a good person. Why did your car just quit right after you noticed that you lost your wallet. Then you realize that you strayed from Jesus. So you pick up your cell phone and call Him.
You: “Hey older brother, I need some help”
Jesus: “I noticed you weren’t behind me, I’ve been waiting for you to call. ”
You apologize for always calling with problems. Jesus accepts the apology but assures you that He wants to help. You hang up the phone and wait a few minutes. About that time the tow truck driver walks up and tells you that he found the problem with your car and it was a simple fix. No cost. You thank him and go to get back into your car and see that your wallet is next to the seat. Back in the car and speeding down the road you go trying to make up for lost time. Of course as you’re trying to get back to where you should have been a few more little things go wrong, but Jesus helps you along the way.
And so life goes with us following Christ for a while only to get distracted or bored which causes us to lose site on who we’re suppose to be following. We want excitement, we want a nicer car, we want to sleep in on Sunday mornings. We don’t want to go the same speed every day following the same vehicle. It’s too dull.
Many Christians say leading an life upright before the Lord it too hard. I submit unto you that it’s actually too easy and too boring which is why so many stray and fall away. But, if you’d spend more time following Jesus and less time making him pull over and wait on you, it wouldn’t take long for the two of you to get to places where the Christian life gets really exciting. God created everything from Apples to Zebras, fun, happiness, and even sex, for us, His children. But there’s a time and place for everything. We get into trouble when we focus on these things rather than Jesus and try to find them outside of the parameters set by Him.
