Last Thursday my truck passed the 150,000-mile marker (fittingly enough leaving the church to run an errand for my Amy). Now, 150,000 miles on a vehicle may not seem like an awful lot to some of you, but it does to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had several cars with more miles on them. My first car had almost 250,000 miles on it when I got it. However, when I think about the 150,000+ miles that my truck has on it now, I think about what that’s looked like. Amy and I bought that truck in January of 2006. We had only been married a few years, and aside from our house, this was our first “major” purchase together. Both of our cars had some mileage on them and several of the car lots near us were having sales since we were in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina and there were some good rebates as a result of that. We wanted to get something reliable and stagger having a car note, so we bought me a truck. We knew that we wanted to have kids, so Amy insisted on getting one with a larger cab. At the time, I wasn’t concerned about kids and was good with a smaller cab. That’s just another example as to why she’s much smarter than I am. I would have hated to sell my truck only a few years later after having Ashby.
Over the almost 12 years that I’ve driven that truck, it’s been on (and off) the roads of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It’s been on family vacations, hunting trips, work trips, youth trips, and just regular everyday driving. I’ve made a handful of moves using that truck (think Sanford and Son). I’ve hauled trailers. I’ve returned inflatable bounce houses. You name it and I’ve done it. I can tell you where every dent and scratch on that truck came from. It still bothers me that I got too close to that mailbox when we were moving out of our house in Mississippi. I’ve got a book in my glove box that has a record of every single service that’s been done on that truck by myself or someone else. I’ve changed the oil, air filter, spark plugs, oxygen sensor, engine coolant, and numerous other things on that truck over the years. I’ve busted a few knuckles, said a few choice words, and ruined quite a few shirts working on it.
Despite all of that, Amy and I will tell you that it was one of the best investments that we made as a family. It’s been a very reliable vehicle for almost 12 years with little maintenance costs, and we’re hopeful that there’s still another 150,000+ miles left in it. I know that I’ve got high aspirations hoping that it’ll stay in good shape for over 300,000 miles and 25 years. That’s why I’ve taken care of it the way that I have. However, I know that all of the care and maintenance that I’ve done over these last 12 years won’t get any easier. As time passes, there will be belts to replace, more oxygen sensors to go bad, fluids that have to be changed, and countless other issues. However, I’m going to put in the work until it can’t be done anymore. As long as it’s still in good working order, I’m going to keep laboring away to keep that truck in as good of condition as I can.
Now, what does my truck have to do with the Christian faith? Well, in many ways, maintaining my truck mirrors our walk with Christ. In the beginning, it’s pretty easy to keep up. Everything seems to be in perfect working order and we really just need to check in every so often to make sure that a few basic things are taken care of. However, as time passes, and life rolls on, it becomes a bit more difficult to keep things working like they should. Being faithful to Christ is hard, especially when confronted with life outside the walls of a church. No one who has seriously studied Scripture would tell you any different. The more we study and read, the more we’re exposed to the things of this world and come to know the darkness of humanity; the more difficult it becomes for us to keep the faith.
However, it’s worth it. Life gets hard. Remaining faithful to the calling that God has placed upon each and every one of us is tough. We want to rely on the things that we’ve already done, but that’s not enough. It’s a good start, but we have to keep going. I love what Paul says to the Christians in Philippi: “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul here is telling these Christians that it’s imperative that they keep working. He knows that there might be some temptation to rest on what they’ve done, but he says that we can’t do that. I can’t rest on the fact that I’ve taken good care of my truck for the last 12 years. That won’t help me much over the next 12 years. Sure, it makes things a little easier, but when you get down to it, it’s really just a good start. Grow in your faith. Don’t rest on what you’ve done, but strive forward and see what God is going to accomplish through you. There’s always work to be done for the sake of the kingdom!
