Galatians 5:7
you were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
Are you living a NASCAR type of life?
Racing might seem simple and just a matter of taking a left turn, then taking a left turn, then taking another left turn. To the novice it may seem like the drivers just go around in circle as fast as they can. The truth is that even those that are in charge of NASCAR know that it is important to have control. In fact NASCAR requires that the cars have restrictor plates placed in the cars.
If you are not a race fan or not a car person at all, here is what a restrictor plate does: The device limits the power output of the engine, therefore slowing the acceleration and the overall speed. The horsepower of these machines is phenomenal. Ricky Wallace is a name that is synonymous with speed and racing. Even if you are not a fan of NASCAR chances are you have heard of Rusty Wallace. In 2004, Rusty Wallace tested a car at Talladega Super Speedway without a restrictor plate, and reached a top speed of 228 mph in the backstretch, and had a one lap average of 221 mph. He later described the experience as "out of control," and he also said that "there is no way that we could race at those speeds." The restrictor plates have slowed the cars’ speeds significantly, and they now average around 187 mph. It is clearly not simply about how fast the cars can go, but rather skill, precision and Control.
Do you have a restrictor plate on your life, or are you simply racing as fast as you can? Are you racing out of control? Are you chasing that person that cut in front of you and took you off course? Are you disobeying the simple truth that racing through life at top speed will force you to get out of control?
There was a really popular country song in the 1990’s that talked about always being in a hurry and not knowing why. Perhaps you remember it. It was recorded by Alabama and hit number one on the charts. The song was even used in the popular movie Cars. The lyrics state that the singer is always in a hurry and he don’t know why. They rush and rush until life is no fun. They say that all they really got to do is live and die.
This song says a lot about how we live our life, and even though that song was recorded over 20 years ago it is still very true today. We all rush around trying to get things done, but do all these things we try to do really matter? Are you racing through quickly and you don’t know why?
Do you need a speed limit on your life?
We all seem to be going faster and faster, until we actually find out--as Rusty Wallace said-- that we are out of control. The things that we are doing are no longer fun, and have become extremely dangerous.
We have become a society of "I want it now."Ask someone under 20 to imagine life without a laptop, cell phone, video game, and iPod and they can’t do it. I remember a post Kellie placed one time that went something like this. Anyone who was BORN in the 60's-70's... We are the last generation who played in the street. We are the 1st who played video games & the last to record songs off the radio on a cassette tape. We learned how to program the VCR before anyone else, play from Atari to super Nintendo. We are the generation of Tom and Jerry & The Flintstones. We travelled in cars without seat belts or air-bags & lived without cell phones. We did not have flat screens, surround sound, iPods, Face book, Twitter, computers & the Internet...But nevertheless we had a GREAT time. You have probably seen something like this or perhaps you have even posted this, but let me tell you what our 19 year old nephew said. “I still wonder how”
25 to 30 years ago a computer was something no one needed, a cell phone was straight out of dick Tracey or get smart, remember that old shoe phone he had? I remember the first computer I ever worked with, it was when I first got into the Air force in the late 80’s. This device was called a PDP 1150 and was the size of 8 refrigerators tied together side by side. The storage devices were the stacks of disks that were encased in a plastic container that slid into a device that looked like a top loading washing machine. But now, something that used to take up a city block will fit in your shirt pocket, and you can access the world from about anywhere at any time. The speed of things today is more than most of us can imagine. If there was a contest for the most popular virtue, I guess that "fast" would beat "best." Many parts of the world seem to be obsessed with speed- but the fast craze is getting us nowhere, fast.
But the truth is we are always in a rush and we don’t know why, all we really have to do is live and die. The great thing is that even death has been taken from us; we are no longer bound by the grave. The book of revelations tells us:
Revelation 1:18
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Jesus took away the keys to the grave and replaced them with the keys to heaven.
Mathew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20
So why are we all in such a rush that life is no fun?
We don’t need to live out of control; we don’t have to chase after those that cut in front of us as if we have something to prove. All we really need to do is LIVE! We need to live as God would have us live. We need to make heaven our destination and allow Jesus to be the pace setter.
So I ask you again does your life need a speed limit. Do you need to slow down? Are you so wrapped up in the gotta get there now way of life that you are speeding out of control?
The things that we think are important are not really that important. The world was just fine for over 2000 years without all the items that increased the horsepower of life. We got along just fine without the turbo charged life that so many of us try to live now.
Take it from Ricky Wallace, we can’t run the race (human race) with all that power, let Jesus place the restrictor plate on your life.
Don’t take me wrong, it is important that we do not just park along the side of the road or just let our engines idle. It is important to stay in the race, but what we ride and how fast we ride is really what matters.
Two Kentucky farmers who owned racing stables had developed a keen rivalry. One spring, each of them entered a horse in local steeplechase. Thinking that a professional rider might help him outdo his friend, one of the farmers engaged a crack jockey.
The two horses were the leading the race at the last fence, but it proved too tough for them. Both horses fell, unseating their riders.
But, this calamity did not stop the professional jockey. He quickly remounted and won the race.
Returning triumphant to the paddock, the jockey found the farmer who had hired him fuming with rage. "What’s the matter," asked the jockey. "I won didn’t I?" "Oh, yes," roared the farmer. "You won all right, but you still don’t know, do you?"
"Know what?" asked the jockey.
"You won the race on the wrong horse!"
There are several horses that we have the option to ride in our lives: One is called "success", but it too can throw us off. Others are called "anger," "jealousy," or "wealth." But, these too can give out and we can find ourselves flying through the air. When we get back on and start riding, will it be the right horse?
Just as we can’t be racing out of control, we also need to make sure that we are on the right horse, or to keep with the NASCAR theme, in the right car. Don’t let jealousy be what propels you down the track, but rather focus on what God wants for your life. You can’t let someone cutting you off cause you to run out of control.
There will be those that will try to cut us off at the pass, or cause us to drive into the wall, but how we handle them will determine if we manage to finish the race or go out of control. Keep your restrictor plate on, read the owner’s manual and keep your focus on the only pace car of life that will never cause you to turn off the track. Allow Jesus to be the pace car of your life.
