A Truck Stop Story

One evening in a small town in Nebraska, a tired trucker pulled into a truck stop. He parked his 18-wheeler and went into the coffee shop. He ordered a hamburger with all the fixin’s, a pie, and some coffee.

Just as the waitress delivered his order, three burly bikers walked into the shop. It was clear from the start they were up to no good. They immediately began to harass the waitress, and then they noticed the tired trucker.

They sauntered over to his table, and without a word being said, one of them tipped his plate off the table onto his lap. Another one took his coffee cup and began drinking his coffee. And the third biker took his pie and threw it on the floor. Then they stood and waited for him to react.

But this trucker kept quiet. He picked up the check, and walked up to the cashier where he paid for his dinner and then walked out the door. As he was driving his big rig away, another customer walked in.

One of the bikers said, “He didn’t do or say anything. He wasn’t too much of a man, was he?” And the customer who had just walked in said, “He must not be too much of a truck driver either, because on his way out, he ran over three motorcycles and never even stopped.”

These bikers lived for the thrill of the moment, didn’t they? They trucker lived his life according to purpose. Which way do you tend to live your life? More to the point, how do you live your Christian life? Do you live it pretty much minute-to-minute, being dependent upon your circumstances, or is there a defined purpose to it?

There was a man who decided to go driving out in the country. In his excitement to see the countryside, he forgot to fill his car with gas, so he ended up running out of gas.

As he began walking, he came to a fork in the road. At that fork was an old farmer leaning up against a fencepost. He asked the farmer if it made any difference on which road he took to town. The farmer said, "Not to me."

Today, we are going to talk about which road we are taking to heaven. And as we do, I want you to begin analyzing where your walk is with Jesus. If you aren’t where you should be, I am going to give you a chance to get there at the end of this message.

First of all, let’s talk about …

1. OUR WALK WITH THE LORD

The word “walk” in the Bible symbolizes the way we live and the way we act. It often depicts life as a journey, and it shows that Christians are always moving, and therefore always doing.

Last week, I said that Satan is in charge of this world, and as such we are influenced by the things of this world, such as wealth, power, possessions, and by other things that serve to distract us from focusing on Jesus. But the Christian looks beyond this world with a conviction that believes there is a better place waiting for us.

A lady had been a regular churchgoer for over 60 years. Even as a child, she rarely missed a service. And she was always pleasant and actively involved in the church and had been in charge of the many fellowship dinners at the church. He remembered her always telling people to keep their forks as she was collecting their dinner plates, because the dessert, or the best, was yet to come.

And so it was odd that she wasn’t there one Sunday. After the service, the pastor got a call from her asking if he would come and see her, which he did. When he got there, she poured him some coffee and then began to talk to him. She told him that the doctors had given her just a short time to live. And rather than to mope around, she wanted to start planning her funeral.

She wanted her pastor to deliver an upbeat message at her service, and she had written some things down that might help him better prepare. And she had written down some of the songs she wanted them to sing.

Her face was aglow with excitement and she said she just couldn’t wait! She went on to say that she had spent her entire life getting ready for this journey, and now she was so excited about finally being able to go home and see Jesus. But her last request didn’t make sense to the pastor. She requested that a fork be put in her hand as she lay in the casket.

The day came when she died. At the funeral, he gently put a fork in her hand, and at that precise moment, he understood her request.