The Used Car

The familiar story that follows is probably an urban legend, but it still illustrates a good point.  It is about the farmer who drove into town and picked out the new car he wanted to purchase.  The salesman let the farmer test drive a few different cars.  Soon he had made is selection and the deal was done.  The salesman had noticed the old man had driven into the dealership in a rusty old clunker and asked if they wanted to dispose of it for him.  “No,” he answered, “I will just take it back home to keep as a spare in case my new car ever breaks down.”  The salesman handed him the new car’s keys and he drove off.  A few minutes later the man returned and picked up the old car.

Later that afternoon, one of the dealership’s tow truck drivers came in and described a strange sight he had seen just outside of town.  “I saw a man with two cars.  He would drive one a few hundred yards down the road and then walk back to the second car and drive it several hundred yards past the first.  I watched him for a while at a distance and, sure enough, he repeated the process several times.”  After comparing notes, the salesman and tow truck driver realized this was the farmer taking both his old and his new car home.  After a little math they figured out that the man would drive both cars 10 miles and he himself would walk 10 miles to get home that day.

This seemingly crazy tale is often a picture of our Christian lives.  We eagerly put on the new life Christ offers but we want to keep our old one as a backup.  In order to do that, we end up spending a lot of time and effort to take our old man along so we have it just in case the new man breaks down or does not work out as we had thought.  Soon we are exhausted from trying to live two lives.  I know that each time I try to live these two lives, with one foot in the life of faith and one in the world, I end up tired and frustrated.  It is only when I gave up on that old life that true joy and rest can come in.        

^{1Kings18:21 (NIV)} Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."  But the people said nothing.

Our pastor shared how insanity can be defined as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.  If we are dissatisfied with our old life, we can’t keep embracing it and expect different results.  God has encouraged us to take Him for a test drive.

 ^{PS 34:8} Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Once we have tried Him out and found out He alone holds the answers of life we need to embrace Him and put aside the old life in favor of His new one. It is then we will be truly blessed and find our refuge in Him. 

Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Cruisers
Pathway Christian Church
Riverside, CA