Years ago a young man who loved racing cars started seeing his passion come to life as He immersed himself in the world of racing. He started going to races, reading racing books, talking with guys who were former racers, and quickly moved toward the day he would get his own race car. His grandpa, who lived in a country home about 50 miles away, knew about his love for cars and decided he was going to give him his prized possession, a car. When he told his grandson that he was going to give him his car, his grandson got excited because his grandpa got a beautiful new foreign sports car every year. He always got the best of the best for that year. His grandpa told him when he reached 21 years of age, he could have his car. He could already see himself behind the wheel of that awesome racing machine. Taking hairpin turns at ridiculous speeds. Pulling up to stop signs and beating all those who pulled up beside him floated in his dreams on a daily basis. He couldn't wait for his 21st birthday and the days dragged on. Sure enough, the weekend before his birthday, he couldn't stand it anymore. He decided he would go to his grandpa's home early to look the car over and see if he needed to get it tuned up or cleaned out. As he pulled up to his grandpa's home, he noticed some extra cars in the driveway and he wondered what was going on and walked up the path to the porch. He had no sooner gotten to the porch when his aunt came out and crying she said, "He's gone." His grandpa, his friend, had passed away in the night. The man who gave him so much wisdom about living life, and taught him how to fish, hunt, and race was gone. Gone....
This part of the parable is how the whole thing started for each of us. We heard the message of eternal life and accepted Christ. In accepting Christ we might have had an impression of what we thought the Christian life was really all about. We got eternal security with a place in heaven. We received forgiveness of our sins and had a direct line to God through Jesus Christ. We had the Holy Spirit in our lives and He showed us how to live our lives and that was given directly through the Bible. Christian friends rejoiced at our decision, but then after a while we fell right into the "me first" part of Christianity, enabled through teachings of modernistic theology (real and relevant). The young man represents US. Me and You.
In the beginning we learn about God through the new found zeal that is natural with life change due to salvation. The sun seems brighter, we wake up ready to go, and life in general is amazing!! We have such a passion for life that when directed in the right way it changes not only us, but all those around us. We are contagious!! It seems like the true essence of our life is built around this passion for living. Much like the young man we have a "natural" tendency for a certain way of thinking (cars for him) that is passed down to us from our heavenly Father. At this point you can quickly see that the grandpa represents God. The young man's love for racing was in his DNA and that was hereditary. His grandpa's love for racing was coming alive in him. But, he didn't live with his grandpa and even though he had learned many lessons from His grandpa as a child, he had not gotten the full meaning of those lessons because he had moved to a different location, the city. His time with his grandpa had become less and less over the years and the city (the world) had redirected some of those life lessons in the wrong direction. He had become self centered and selfish. The lessons taught by his grandfather seemed old and distant and his new style of life seemed so carefree and easy. It was. Too easy. His perspective of life changed from quality to quantity and his basic core belief system was no longer PURE!
His grandpa had promised to give him his most prized possession, a car, when he came of age. The young man's messed up life caused him to think it was something much different than reality and he based his hopes on something shiny and cool. His hope continued to rise as he looked forward to the day he would get what His grandfather had promised. The car promised represents the power of the Holy Spirit in our life. It's not a second blessing, but actually the coronation of the first being seen in our lives. It is the vehicle that takes us to a whole new level of serving God. The Call!! We many times miss The Call because we, like the young man, are looking for some glorious, shiny thing that will elevate each of us to a higher place. When in reality it is much different. Today's church seems to be looking for that spark, that shiny thing to lure others to come and join us. Only to find that the shiny thing isn't what God is in at all. Some Christians become disenchanted and believe that God isn't going to do anything renewed or powerful, and that His time for powerful movement is gone. Gone! Tomorrow's explanation will continue the explanation of this parable about our individual walk and the need for the church to come alive as never before.
The Pilgrimage Continues......
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