Tricked out Truck

I was struck just now with a memory of Kathy in a Bible Study on the book of Hebrews. It must have been 13 years ago now. The group was made up of mostly Campus Crusaders and we were all discussing the beginning of the book. The question arose about who the author might have been and who his audience was and what the setting might have been. These are all nice comfortable questions and we weren't asking them in order to unpack some richer, deeper spiritual truth. We were asking these questions because we all wanted to be intellectuals. We wanted to understand the book better than folks who just “read it”.

Kathy spoke up. Well it was more of an outburst. She said “I think we're totally missing the point here!” She didn't say it in a nice tempered way either, she was obviously pissed. Here was a book declaring the incredible nature and being of Christ Jesus and we were missing it.

And I see it in myself and those around me still, all the time. It's like we're all standing around with the neighbors looking at a buddy's new tricked out truck. It's raised up five feet to clear immense boulders. It's paint is beautiful but it's also incredibly tough so that if a tree falls on it there won't even be a scratch. The engine has a snorkel sticking out the top so that it can actually submerge and keep running. We are all standing around looking at it in amazement. We comment on different features and nod in agreement until a little kid in the back of the crowd seizes on a quiet moment to say “Let's take it for a ride!”

Of course all the adults just smile and look at their feet in embarrassment. “Impetuous child, someone take him home.” Then the owner of the truck pulls it into the garage where he covers it up again. He'll bring it out again next Sunday so that we can all gawk at it and talk about how amazing it is.

Yea, that's what Kathy was talking about so many years ago. I didn't catch it at the time because I was one of those polite neighbors but she was calling me on the fact that the Bible is intended to introduce me to Jesus. Just like that truck is not meant for truck shows or a drive to the store, the Bible is not meant to be read and ignored. It isn't a self help book. It's a serious declaration of the King of Kings. It's an introduction to Jesus.

I pledge to make sure I don't leave it in the garage anymore. The adventure is out there with Jesus. He doesn't want to merely take us down the paved city streets either. He's on the back roads and in the dangerous places. He's in the pain and the joy and the mundane. He speaks to us constantly and leads us. If I'm daring I'll listen and follow him. I'm not scared. He's built for the adventure like the truck is built to go off road.

Let's walk with Jesus today, wherever that might be.