Lessons from Cars 17

Lesson 17: Safety Features

When I think of the vehicles I first drove I shudder at how unsafe they were. They had no airbags to cushion a person in an accident. They had no seatbelts to keep people in the vehicle in the event of a roll over. They had no ABS breaking system is assist in slippery weather. The bumper was built like a battering ram with practically no energy-absorbing features. There were no head rests to reduce whiplash injuries, and there was no soft padding on the dashboard. Thankfully, today vehicles have all these features and more to keep us much safer on the road.

Of course life has no guarantees. Even with all the safety improvements people still die in automobile accidents. But when it comes to our spiritual life, God has given us a guarantee. If we put our trust in Jesus we will get to Heaven. He has said that he has given us eternal life and no one is able to take that away from us. The Apostle Paul testified that nothing in Heaven or Hell is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. It is like the old gospel song says: “He will keep you from falling, he will keep to the end. What a wonderful Saviour, what a wonderful friend.”

John 10:38

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Lessons from Cars `2

Lesson 13. Brakes

When looking for a new car we ask about the motor, the horsepower, the speed, the comfort of the ride, the handling and all things associated with going. We take for granted that the car has stopping power. You have only to lose your brakes once to never take them for granted again. I recall losing mine while my wife and I were driving to my parents house one Christmas. About five miles from their home the brakes gave out. It was night and late. We slowly crept the rest of the way. My dad had left the garage door open for us and we coasted to a stop by bumping into the back wall. This is not recommended.

Life is fast-paced. We rush from one activity to the next, often boasting about how busy we are. Most of us hate to be idle, hate to have to stop. But there are times when we need to slow down. In fact there are times when we should slam on the brakes. When we don’t have time for our family we need to slow down. When our work is interfering with our health we need to slow down. And when temptations are drawing us into sin we need to slam on the brakes and come to a full stop.

1 Corinthians 15:34

 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning;

Lessons from Cars 12

Lesson 12: Tires

Let’s talk about tires. Right now I am driving on four comfortable Michelins. They replaced the worn (cheap) tires that came with my vehicle. When I put the new tires on it was like walking in a new pair of slippers. The ride was smooth and quiet. Over the years I have not always been so careful. I have been known to drive on what my friends called “baloney skins”—tires that were tread-less and that had the wire showing through the sides. After numerous flats tires and skids into snow banks I have learned the importance of having good rubber underneath me.

You have no doubt heard the expression “where the rubber meets the road.” That phrase refers to the most important point in a situation. This is the point where all our preparation and theory turns into action. We can have a fancy-looking car with a big motor but if it doesn’t have good tires it's not going far. In life we can dress in the finest clothes, study at the best universities, attend the most popular church, but if we don’t put our faith into action we are going nowhere. In your Christian life, where does the rubber hit the road? At what point does your faith turn into action?

James 2:17

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Lessons from Cars 10

Lesson 10. Cooling System

Things can get pretty hot under the hood of your car. To keep things cool you car has a cooling system consisting of a radiator, a thermostat, coolant (usually some kind of antifreeze) and a pump. In the old days of my dad’s 1954 Chev pickup the coolant was plain water and the system did not work real well. I remember us stopping at roadside streams many times to put water in the radiator. And when the engine got hot, so did my dad. It was a challenge for both him and the truck to keep their cool.

It is always important for us as Christians to keep our cool. “Cool, calm, and collected” as the old saying goes is the way we should respond under pressure. But we are not all alike. Some of us have short fuses and tend to lose our cool. Like my dad’s old truck, some of us tend to get hot under the collar. When that happens we need to have in place a cooling system. Besides taking deep breaths, counting to ten, and going for a short walk, we should say a little prayer, ask God to give us His peace, and put into His hands whatever it is that is causing us to boil over.

John 14:27

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you…. Do not let your hearts be troubled….

Lessone from Cars 9

Lesson 9: Oil

Every mechanic will tell you that oil is the lifeblood of your car’s engine. According to carbibles.com (gotta love that name) engine oil “stops all the metal surfaces in your engine from grinding together and tearing themselves apart from friction…” It also transfers heat from the engine chamber and keeps all the nasty by-products of combustion in suspension. So there you have it—everything you need to know about engine oil. One more thing—change the oil regularly according to your car’s driver’s manual.

In the Bible the Church is compared to a human body with many parts, with each individual Christian being a part of the body. The Church can just as easily be compared to a car with its many moving parts. Just as in a car engine where metal surfaces can “tear themselves apart from friction” so Church members can “tear each other apart” with infighting, competition, and disputes. The oil that keeps the Church running smoothly is the influence of the Holy Spirit uniting us in a bond of love. When things begin to heat up in your church because of friction between members ask God to anoint you again with the oil of the Spirit so that things will run smoothly.

Romans 12:4-5

For just as each of us has one body with many members…so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Lessons from Cars 6

Lesson 6. Engine

Every guy who goes looking for a vehicle wants to look under the hood. He wants to see if the engine looks clean or if it is covered with oil. But more importantly he wants to know how big it is. How many cylinders are there? What is the cubic inch measurement of the engine? What is the horsepower? Even if he can’t afford to drive a muscle car or a 350 engine, he still likes to dream. He may settle for a four-cylinder, hybrid that sips gasoline like a tea connoisseur at a taste test. In the end the choice is made between power and miles per gallon.

In life we all like to dream big. We all would like to accomplish some big thing and leave a big footprint behind us on the world’s stage. Some have done that—Martin Luther, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Billy Graham to name a few. But most of us play minor parts on the stage of life. Or do we? What may appear to the world to be a minor part, may be a critical part of God’s great plan. Think for a moment of Martin Luther’s teacher and Abraham Lincoln’s mother, and the person who led Billy Graham to faith in Christ. You probably don’t know their names, yet their parts were invaluable. In the service of the Lord, size does not matter. Doing God’s will is all that counts.

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.