It's Not Just A Clean Car

Every car looked like it had been through a storm. It had been a wet week and they looked like it because no one wanted to clean their car when more rain was forecast. One after the other, on and on they came, until . . . Everyone noticed it. Coming toward us was this wonderfully clean, beautiful black shining beauty. You could tell this guy spent time on his car. I first thought it must be a new car from a sales lot. As it came closer it was evident it was a few years old. I thought to myself, “This fellow is really focused on his car.” This car just stood out. You couldn’t do anything but notice the gleaming hand polished paint, the blinding chrome wheels, and the tires sprayed with a tire shine. I wasn’t jealous or anything I was just amazed at seeing a car, so clean in the middle of rain-drenched week.
My mind, being that I am very analytical, began to ask some interesting questions. The reason being, I used to spend time doing similar things but definitely not to this degree. I think it’s a man thing to some degree. We like our cars and we like them clean. Not to leave out the ladies who may have the same thing about their kitchens. Quickly I put away any thought of pride. Even though it is possible. The assumption is, this fellow just likes his car and he wants to take the best care of it for a long time. There is a difference.
So the question’s role. How much of his time does it take to keep his car this clean? Is the interior just as clean? The question arose, where does he keep it, as it can’t be parked outside in a parking lot? Knowing the make and model brought the simple question, why, it’s not worth a lot of money. This triggered another question about young men and their cars. Why do they purchase a cheap car and put in a $5000 stereo? I really ask this question when I am watching the car make over programs. Who really needs a ga zillion watt stereo? Does he do his own maintenance? Is it mechanically as sound as it is shiny?
As I watched the car disappear in my rearview mirror, I thought about cleaning my car a little. The yes response slowly disappeared as I remember the forecast for that night and I park my car in the driveway.
Other questions were replaced by others. Part of a bible verse came to me as I pulled in our drive, “you cannot serve both God and money.” Where am I spending my time? What is really important to me? What am I worshiping? Are there more pressing issues that life demands of my time. After all, do we really worship something that cannot respond to our love and affection?
And what about us? We are God’s creation. Does God look at us the same way this young man looks at his car? God indeed created us. I read in my bible He knit me together in my mother’s womb, and, He created us in their image. Does God want us to be squeaky clean, well maintained and in great running order? And we ask ourselves the same questions about ourselves that we asked about the clean car. How much of our time do we take to keep ourselves clean? Is the interior of my heart just as clean as the outside? What maintenance do we do and are we spiritually sound?
Unlike that car or someone’s kitchen, we can respond to God our creator. We can thank Him for our existence and our lives. How often do we do that? It is true that God wants our souls perfect. But unlike a car when someone does the work on it, we are the ones given the responsibility to maintain everything about ourselves. Maybe there is something we read in the verse, “worship God in your bodies.” Sitting behind the wheel of my not so clean car, I talked to God about what I can do next to improve His image in me. Colossians 3:10 “Since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Ask your own questions. Then ask yourself, who am I worshiping?
Rob