He backed out of the garage and headed to town. As he drove into town everyone was looking at him in the roadster. He couldn't believe the attention he was getting in this old car. He just had to know more about the car that had been his grandpa's for so many years. He knew of an antique car restoration place downtown and drove there to see if they could tell him anymore about his new, old car. As he pulled up, the whole staff walked outside and the owner said, "Well, I've only seen pictures of this car. I thought they were all gone." The young man said, "So, is this car worth a lot?" The man said, "Oh yeah. I have a dealer who would give you five for it today." The boy thought the man was kidding when he said it was worth $500.00. Surely, it would be worth more than that. He said, "It may be only worth $500.00 to you, but to me it's priceless. This was my grandpa's car and he loved it." The man laughed and said, "Son, I didn't mean Five Hundred Dollars, I mean Five Million Dollars! The young man couldn't believe his ears. "Five Million Dollars!" The dealer said, "Would you be interested in selling it?' The young man told him, "No, it's not for sale. It's worth much more if I pass it down through the family." He got in the car and drove away, thankful for the ageless gift that continues to gather more and more worth as it gets older. His grandpa's prize possession became his prized possession. He suddenly sensed a great amount of responsibility to keep the car in the best shape possible. It was not only his gift, but now it was going to be his legacy to those who would come behind him.
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When we receive Christ in our life we think we know just how precious the gift is and we navigate life by that impression. That impression is Life Eternal, Forgiveness of Sin, Hope for the Future, and many other phrases that aptly describe the benefits of salvation. But our Heavenly Father offers much more than those initial promises received at the new birth. The forgiveness we receive takes the shackles of guilt and heaviness and throws them aside. The freeing power of the new birth in our life opens the door to a way of life that is found by all who know Christ, but understood by few. Why is it understood by few? It 's a seed, earth, weed, growth thing. He plants the seed in each of us and then the enemy, who seeks to steal and destroy, lures us into thinking much differently than God intended. He wants us to live guilty, negative, defeated lives WITH the new birth in place. When that happens it lessens the effectiveness of our testimony because we don't seem to be ANY different and that is a problem. The seed doesn't grow much and the weeds are a constant problem. Our stunted growth makes us miserable and then everyone around us is miserable..... Do you get the picture? This in a small form is the picture of today's church. Defeated, visionless, and worst of all. Anemic! You say, "What do you mean anemic? Here is the adjective definition of the word....lacking power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness; listless; weak. We have weak blood!! The same blood that was shed for our sins is not the blood we are trusting in for a victorious life. His blood has been weakened in our lives because we quit believing. If you want to see the red blood cells start to rise in our faith, then start trusting God with all your life. His blood will start to take hold once again and the effect will be awesome. Things like taking up your cross daily, immersing yourself in the Word, serving with a passion will be more evident in your life as you learn to follow God. The seed will GROW!!!
Throughout the parable the young man could not grasp, first of all, how precious his grandpa was to him until his grandpa was gone. His memory was jogged though, and he had not totally forgotten his grandpa and that relationship tie was enough to keep him looking for more answers. His perspective about what was valuable in life had become skewed because he had gotten further and further away from the place where his identity was formed. In other words, the world had become the source of his reasoning and that had affected his faith, instead of the faith being his source of reasoning and that affecting his world. He was living upside down! He turned the tide when he walked into the back room of the garage. One step of faith and hope changed his whole perspective and brought him back to his true source of belief. His Grandpa. He was so overjoyed with finding the old car, that he drove it to town immediately. He was proud of this new, old car. He was amazed that everyone was looking at it. It's amazing that when those we come in contact with see the foundational faith of the Bible lived before them, they are drawn to it. Why? PURITY! God's Word doesn't age like everything else. In fact, as things of the world get older and less dependable, our faith gets newer every day and more and more dependable. It is a pure source from a spring that never runs dry. Limitless!
The young man still had not caught on to what he had received, so he went to town to see if he could get a second opinion from someone who knew cars. When the owner came out and told him the car was worth five million dollars, he was amazed. But not so much surprised. Why? Because of his grandpa's promise of it being the best he could give. The process was complete when the car collector offered to buy it and he turned it down because he suddenly realized it was worth far more than any money he could ever get. It was priceless. Through the years I have seen many fall to the lure of the world and all of it's compromise. Sadly enough, I have at times compromised my faith, just to be quickly drawn back by God to a place of balance. When I was a young man I would listen to older men and women of the faith and hear of the blessed pilgrimage realized by long life. It was that kind of faith that caused me to draw closer and closer to God and let Him be my source of energy for living. Even in my failure God has enabled me to stay close and grow in Him and to that I say, "Praise God." There were times when I was offered a lot of money to "sell out" just like the young man and the temptation was almost more than I could stand. But God wouldn't let it happen. Because He cares! This parable ends with a challenge to all who read it. Do you have the right power source? If you do, how is that power source working through you? Have you lost your way and let the world lure you into mediocrity? Perhaps you have forgotten where you put your vehicle for living a vibrant, powerful, passionate life. Walk into the back room and uncover it. It still runs. When you start to drive it again, you will see that it's not old, but new. Then after just a little time you will once again see just how much more precious it is than you ever imagined. Or.....you can stay the same way, with the same faith, with the weak blood, that is not powered by God at all and fall into line with the world's way of living..... If you have Christ in your life, like the young man, you know what to do. DO IT!
The Pilgrimage continues.....
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