Monday, August 2, 2010

DRIVING THE AUTOBAHN

2017 will be the 500th anniversary of Luther's posting of his 95 Theses, statements he hoped would lead the church to be more faithful to the Bible. In Wittenberg they are planting 500 mature trees to commemorate the event. City officials are asking tourists to return home and plant trees there also. Luther once said if he knew the world would end tomorrow, he would still plant a tree today.

No trip to Germany is complete without a drive on the autobahn, 18 inches of smooth concrete and only a rare speed limit sign. Autobahns make for rapid and efficient travel and racing hearts. As I became accustomed to driving our rented VW on the A-4, I wanted to go faster. I easily went around a truck at 100 kph (63 mph) and moved to the center lane and up to 120 kph (80 mph). I like that speed on the Interstate back home, so why not here?

A car came up behind me rather fast, so I increased to 140 kph (90 mph). What a great drive! After calculating that 160 kph would be only 100 mph, I bumped it up again. I remembered as a youth I'd always wanted to go 120 mph, so I edged the VW up to 180 kph. Cool....

But whoa! What would happen if we'd have blown a tire? A note on the dash said “Max 210 kph” (140 mph!) and this turbo diesel with 6 gears could easily do that. Just then a BMW went around me like I was standing still! It was doing at least 150 mph, and weaving slightly. So I settled back to a relaxed 100 mph and felt safe, even smug!

All this is not unlike our tendency to experiment with sin. We try out something new here and there, and the thrill makes it exciting. But soon we need more thrill, and for others it leads to addiction. Most will settle into a "safe" mode of sin, convinced we're not as bad as others, certain we'll be safe. A few forge ahead, oblivious to all dangers.

But sin carries results, and the Bible says the Big One is death. We need forgiveness through faith in Jesus, and we also need the Spirit's help to rein us in to keep sin from destroying us. Without Christ, there's a horrific flaming end waiting out there. We must continually pray for God's mercy, ever being watchful of our weaknesses that move us away from God.

Jesus Christ came to save us from sin and from ourselves. He is our eternal life preserver, our safety net, the Holy One who slows us down saves us from destruction. "Never will will leave you, never will I forsake you," our Lord tells us (Hebrews 13:5). And we can be sure He will guide us on the right path.

Slow down! Plant a tree to honor Martin!

No comments: