Siblings, a skateboard, a motorcycle, and a steep driveway, what could possibly go wrong?! In the neighborhood where I grew up there was no lack of giant hills for a thrilling ride on any wheeled object upon which we could perch ourselves. We hoped to enjoy the exhilaration of great speed and also a safe deceleration at the bottom of the hill. In my driveway there was plenty of potential for great speed on a skateboard, but the enjoyable deceleration could be a little more tricky if you didn’t somehow slow yourself in the side grass, preventing yourself from heading into the street and subsequently into the ditch (assuming you made it across the street without incident). But this story isn’t about the down hill trip, but a trip back up the hill. One day, I had the “brilliant” idea of making a tow vehicle out of my Honda XL70 motorcycle with a ski rope tied to the back to return us back up the driveway. “Simply, grab the handle and ride leisurely back up the hill.” Kinda like a tow rope on the beginner ski slope. I somehow convinced my sister, who had safely enjoyed her ride to the bottom of the hill, that she was the lucky winner (read: “crash test dummy”) of the maiden voyage of the motoskatelift. I started out gently so as to not pull her off the skateboard. Everything was going swimmingly as I accelerated up the hill, until about halfway up the driveway, where unfortunately, there were just a few pieces of gravel, the size of which were slightly too large for the tiny skateboard wheels to go over. So, the wheels hit the gravel and stopped the board fast and my inaugural rider (i.e. test sibling) was airborne, landing on the asphalt with hands, elbows, belly, thighs, and knees, (I don’t know how she kept from scrapping her chin). I was oblivious to what had happened until she released the handle and it slingshot itself into my helmet. I stopped and turned around in time to see my sister starting to cry and look at her injuries. She was pretty well graveled (both in body and spirit) and because she didn’t normally say bad words, I think she may have used my name as a bad word, yelling, “BILL MCGINNIS!” I was disappointed that my idea had not worked as planned and…, oh yeah, I felt sorry that I had given my sister a road rash on most of her body. I may have even groveled over the gravel for a few minutes. For some reason she didn’t trust my ideas so much after that.
Jesus knows that He can’t trust people and so He holds a boundary with us. Yet, He still came to save all who will trust in Him. We read in John 2:23–25, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.” (NLT) But then the very next chapter we read the famous words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16) Now that is love! Even though Jesus doesn’t trust us because He knows what is in our hearts, He is still glad to give himself as a sacrifice for us to have eternal life with Him and begin changing us to act like people who are more like Him! Paul, recognizing what happens, encourages us with his manifesto: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”(Galatians 2:20 NLT-SE) So, be careful who you trust, we humans are bound to disappoint (some may even ask us to be a crash test dummy for them), but Jesus is never untrustworthy.
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!