I like to ride motorcycles. There is just something about having a big engine pulsating beneath you and feeling the power flowing through your whole body, even more so as you accelerate up a mountain side. I know that there are many reading this who cannot even relate to this but it is a wonderful thing. Even more so if the pipes are loud!! It can’t be duplicated in a plane, train, or automobile, even a convertible, under any conditions. It has to have 2 wheels with lots of power and noise. To put it another way, you can’t get the feeling except on a bike. You have to throw your leg over one, hit the starter button and take her on the road to experience the thrill. It won’t come any other way. You can talk about it, listen to others describe it, but nothing can even come close to the thrill of doing it yourself. Are there risks involved? Of course. I think everything in life worth doing carries a certain amount of risk.
We all want to see people come into the Kingdom of God. Outreach, evangelism, sharing your faith, whatever terminology you want to put on it, it is that place where you are sharing what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in your life one on one with someone else who lacks that experience. But to do that you have to be where the unsaved are. Or as it was said not to long ago, to have that kind of ministry you have to sit in the smoking section. Hummm! Interesting thought. To fish, I need to be near the water, to experience the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle, I need to straddle one, and to experience people coming into the Kingdom of God, I need to be talking to those who do not have the Kingdom of God in them.
To carry the metaphor further, that presents a challenge for some of us as we would like to experience the exhilaration of the motorcycle while enjoying the safety of the 4 wheel drive SUV, air bags and all. Only problem is, it doesn’t work that way. To experience it to its fullest, you need to be there and take the risk. So, go ahead, look for those who need Jesus, get among them, and listen to their story. Listen for ways that you can show them how Jesus has been intersecting their lives and share with them how He has changed yours. You can listen to wonderful stories of how others have done it and what it feels like, but there is nothing like personal experience. Go ahead, take a risk, look for the smoking section, and enjoy the ride.
D.O.V.E.