THE VOLKSWAGEN BUG, OUR SINS, AND HIS BLOOD

It happened one evening in late summer. I still lived in the Horseshoe Bend valley. I walked up to the top of the hill to my cousin’s house like I did almost every day, but he wasn’t home. His mother told me that he had gone to buy a used car and should be back anytime now. I waited for him for what seemed like forever. Then, the sun moved behind the trees and slowly disappeared, leaving the red and yellow sky to fade into gray, then finally to black. A little while after dark, we saw two sets of headlights coming down the gravel road. The car in the rear was my uncle. He was following my cousin as he drove his new used car into their driveway.

To my surprise, he was driving an old, white Volkswagen bug. It wasn’t in bad shape at all, but the paint was scratched and faded. He wanted to do something to fix it immediately, so he had stopped and bought several cans of black spray paint. He parked as close to the house as he could so we could use the porch light to paint by. Like I said, though, it was late summer and the nights were beginning to get a bit chilly. It wasn’t bad when we started painting but by the time we finished, the dew was falling and it was getting cool. We did the best we could with spray cans and limited lighting, and it really didn’t look too bad when we finished.

The next morning I went to his house and was shocked to see what the car looked like in the daylight. It was hideous. It looked like a monkey had painted it. The dirty, white, scratched-up paint was showing through the splotches of black paint where it had been sprayed lighter and unevenly. It was a big mess.

That’s the way it is when we try to hide our sins. No matter what we do, nor how hard we try, they always show through when the Light shines on them. The only way we can have our sins covered is by the blood of the Lamb. The blood of Jesus actually washes our sins away. That’s the only way we can be free from sin and enter into heaven. Hebrews 9:22 says, Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins. That’s why Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, and died in our place, then rose again.

In Ephesians 1:7, the Apostle Paul says our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus. Jesus said that he is the only way for us to be saved (John 14:6). He also said if we don’t believe in him, we will die in our sins (John 8:24). John tells us that IF we walk in the Light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). But, we have to confess our sins to him. Then we have the promise that he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Don’t try to cover your sins. You can’t do it. You might hide them for a while, but they will weigh you down and torture you, then eventually, they’ll show through. Let Jesus wash your sins away with his blood. Ask him to forgive your sins and make you a new creature. He’s faithful and always keeps his promises. He wants to give you eternal life so he can be with you forever. He loves you that much. Time is growing short, though. Soon this world will end and your fate will be sealed, so don’t put it off another minute. He’s waiting to hear from you.

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LEARNING LESSONS FROM A FORD

I've told you about my first, second, and fourth cars. There’s not much to tell about my third one but I’ll share what I remember with you anyway. I was between jobs at the time and didn't have much money, so I was excited when my uncle told me I could get a car for fifty dollars. Fifty dollars! Wow! That may seem like a very small amount of money now but back then you could get a good used car from an individual between three hundred and five hundred dollars.

This car didn’t run, of course, but my uncle worked on cars all the time and he said he would get it running for me. The man who owned the car said he didn’t really know what was wrong with it. It just died one day and wouldn’t start back. I wanted it so bad that I gave him the money before I even looked at it.

I don’t remember a lot about the car. I have a picture in my mind but there’s just not much detail there. I remember my uncle taking me to get it. I remember that it was white, and I think it was a Ford. It had been sitting in an overgrown field for several years, so the paint was faded and the tires were flat.

We figured we might have to tow it to my uncle’s house so he could work on it but he wanted to see if it would start first. He raised the hood and put a battery on and hooked up the wires. After we knocked off a few mud dauber nests, he poured a little gas into the carburetor to prime it. Then I got in the car and put the key in the ignition and turned it over. It started so I kept trying.

Finally, after several tries, my uncle said, “Woah! It ain’t gonna crank, boys. There’s a hole in the motor the size of my fist. Come and look.” With my shoulders drooping from disappointment, I stepped out of the driver’s seat to take a look. Sure enough, there was a big hole in the motor on the driver’s side. It had slung a rod. No wonder it had stopped running with the previous owner. I was disappointed. There was no way to fix it short of replacing the motor, which, back then, could be done for only a few hundred bucks, but I didn’t have the money, so told the guy he could keep the fifty bucks if he would keep the car and I just left it there and went back home.

As I was thinking about the lesson that could be learned from this story, I realized there are several.

1) Sometimes we think we can fix something but find out there’s nothing we can do. In those situations, we just have to give it to God and let it go. There’s no need to get angry or discouraged. That usually only makes things worse, and it’s not good for our health.

2) Many times we want something really badly, but when we get it, we realize it wasn’t what we needed at all. That shouldn’t discourage us from going after something we want later, but we should be more cautious the next time, and not jump into something without thorough investigation. We need the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make good decisions. Always ask God for guidance.

3)We should not give up on others because they may not be able to do what they thought they could do. Sometimes things just happen that no one could have predicted. My uncle couldn’t fix that car for me, but when I had problems with my next car, I called him for help.

4) Just like that hole in the car motor, there is a hole in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. Many times, we try to fill that void with drugs, alcohol, sex, work, dangerous thrills, Social media, and a number of other things. Some people spend a lifetime searching for the perfect thing to fill that empty space, not realizing there’s only one thing that will do it.

A close personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Messiah, brings peace, calms our fears, and fills the emptiness in our lives. That’s the only thing that will truly do it. Anything else is equivalent to “trying to place a square peg in a round hole.” Impossible.

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OUR BEST FRIEND

When I was really young I remember visiting my Aunt who lived just through the woods. We walked there quite often with our grandmother. She had a dog named Clete. I don’t know what kind of dog he was but my sister and I liked him a lot, and I guess he liked us, too. We played with him every time we would visit. Then one day she told us that he once belonged to her brother, who was our uncle. His name was Marvin.

Later, we learned a couple of interesting things about Uncle Marvin and Clete. First, Marvin was our uncle’s middle name. His first name was actually Cletus. He named the dog after himself and just called him Clete for short. Cletus is a strange enough name to me, but Clete doesn’t even sound like a name at all. I’m glad I found out where the name came from.

The second interesting thing we found out was that Uncle Marvin had given Clete to me and my sister, and our aunt was just keeping him for us. I never did find out why. Maybe we were too young. I don’t know. Eventually, though, we got to take him home. We had to keep him tied on a chain in our side yard, but we played with him every day. He was like a member of our family. He was our best friend.

We moved several times over the next few years and our buddy went with us. We grew up and he was still there, just as loyal and loving as ever. Then one day he got sick. We got medicine for him and he seemed to get better, but eventually, he died.

I’ll never forget the pain I felt knowing he was sick and there was nothing I could do to make him better. I wanted to hold him and pet him and comfort him, but we couldn’t even touch him. I’ll also never forget the pain I felt when he died. All my sisters and I could do was cry. We were all heartbroken. He was our best friend for so many years, and we loved him very much.

We missed our best friend after he died, but we still had each other and we were glad for that. At least we didn’t have to miss him alone. Our grandmother was there for us, to hug us, and hold us, and tell us it would be okay. We also had Jesus to help us through that tough time. Our grandmother had told us all about him early on, and how much he loves us, and the animal he created. She told us about death and why everything has to die. It’s because of sin.

When God created our world, everything was perfect and he gave everything to Adam to take care of. Then Satan came along, and Adam, by disobeying God, forfeited his governorship to the father of lies. Then Jesus came and lived a sinless life and died, and was resurrected, and he took the kingdom back from Satan.

Yes, death is still here, but it has no power over those who trust and obey God. One day Jesus will physically return, and destroy death and sin once and for all, and those who have been born again will live with him forever. I’m looking forward to that day. I can’t wait to see Jesus. I’ll also get to see my grandmother, my dad, and my sister all again. I don’t know about Clete. The Bible doesn’t say whether or not we will have our animal friends back, but I certainly think it’s possible. I know that God is powerful enough to do anything. I’d like to see Clete again, and all our animal friends we have had over the years as well as our family.

It’s a blessing to have family and friends in our lives, whether they are humans or animals. It’s also a blessing to be part of God’s family and to know that Jesus is there for us, no matter what we have to go through in life. He’s our friend, and he loves us. He wants to be our best friend. If he’s not your friend then, you don’t know what you’re missing. Get to know him, today.

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© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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