Building Your Life To Last
“In order to ride free in Christ we must be built to last”
I. Build Or Bust
a. What’s Your Design?
i. You’ve got to have a plan for what you want to build
1. Build or Bust Requirements
a. You’ve got to have a plan
b. You’ve got to have a design. It should be unique and special. Something like no one has ever seen.
c. Interesting as I reflect on God’s design for us.
ii. God had a special design in mind when He created us.
1. You are a life cycle and there was a plan laid out for you
2. The prophet Jeremiah said in 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you to give you a hope and a future.”
3. Psalm 139:13, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
4. Each of us is specially designed by God for a specific purpose.
b. What’s Your Frame Made of?
i. A good bike has to have a strong, dependable and durable frame.
1. Mostly steel
a. Other precious, light and strong materials.
b. What if you built your motorcycle frame out of wood, or some other weak material? It might look good from the outside, but over time and a few rough roads that bike is going to collapse.
2. You can build your life’s frame out of sand or you can build it out of durable materials.
a. Jesus told a parable about the wise and foolish man who built their house on rock or on sand.
i. Matthew 7:24-29, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on a rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act n them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great.”
c. What Kind of Motor Do You Want?
i. Placed in the center of the frame
ii. Perfectly centered so that it balances the motorcycle
1. The heart is the center of our Spirit
2. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
3. Our heart must be centered on the things above in order to for our life to be clicking on all cylinders.
a. Joshua instructed the leaders of Israel to be sure to obey the book of the law and not to turn aside to the right or to the left.
b. We must be centered on things above.
d. What Kind of Tank, Fenders, and Paint Job do you want to have? How is it going to look on the outside?
i. The bike has got to be worth looking at.
ii. Looks cannot come before the frame and the motor.
1. Nothing attracts an enthusiast more than something they’ve not seen before, has a beautiful paintjob and has prefabricated and formed metal that is quite unique
a. Build or bust question
i. What design, and color?
ii. Jesse James the amazing metal fabricator and welder.
2. Our life, like our motorcycles should “look good” to those around us. The moves we make and the impressions we leave. When people see us they should see Christ in us.
a. Always give credit to the maker.
i. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
ii. Colossians 3:12-17, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
e. Can It Do What it is meant to do? Does it move forward?
i. You may have great big fat rear tire and a sweet and sleek front tire. But if they don’t go forward they aren’t doing what they were intended to do.
ii. The rubber is meant to hit the road.
1. If it doesn’t start you don’t get it.
a. The V-Twin with the kickstart
i. Over twenty kicks before the start finally came.
ii. If it wouldn’t have started it would have been nice for a museum but this guy wanted to ride.
b. Do the burn out.
2. James 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has not deeds? Can such faith save him? …In the same way faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.”
a. Motorcycle manufacturers want more motorcycle riders.
b. God invites us to assist Him in the process of making disciples. He wants everyone to know His love for them. Our purpose is to bring Glory to God by telling others about His love for them.
f. What are you going to take with you?
i. Not a lot of room on the bike for stuff.
1. When Jesus sent out the disciples He told them to take only what they had on their backs. Matthew 12:9 says, “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”
2. Notice about bike riders
a. Often have only what they can fit on the cycle.
i. Not a lot. Just enough.
ii. Bible teaches us that we have to let go of the things that weigh us down in order to efficiently follow Christ in mission.
ii. Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at he right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you sill not grow weary and lose heart.”
g. What Kind of Warranty Does it have?
i. I’ve heard it said that if you are going to be a motorcycle rider you’d better be prepared to be a mechanic or know a good one. Some people enjoy the tinkering but people would rather ride that work on them.
ii. The only guarantee is that you will have problems eventually and it will cost you.
1. The saying goes, Live to ride and ride to live? Right?
2. People who ride want to ride forever.
iii. Life is quite similar
1. 1 Corinthians 9:25 says, PARAPHRASE “Everyone who competes in bike building goes into strict training. The do it to get a bike that will not last; but we do it (with our lives and spirits) to get a life that will last forever.”
a. The bible teaches us that if we trust Christ to be the warranty for our eternity we have a firm and secure retirement plan!
II. Are You Built To Last or are you a Bust?
a. Encourage to see
i. You are specially designed
1. You can choose
a. To build wisely on the firm foundation of Christ.
b. To have a heart centered on things above.
c. To have an outside that matches the inside.
d. To live for the purpose you were intended.
e. Rely solely on Christ alone
f. Trust God for the greatest warranty life offers…. eternity with Christ forever.
g. LIVE TO RIDE………IN CHRIST…………RIDE TO LIVE……..IN CHRIST.
h. Keep the motor running on optimal fuel.
i. LORD’S SUPPER
