A few weeks ago I took a picture of an updated version of an older model of a car. I took the picture because it reminded me of a car my oldest brother had once owned and because I knew my next-in-age-to-me brother would fully appreciate it as much as I did, not only for it’s aesthetic beauty but for the shared memories it brought to his mind as well. I was right but later I started thinking about a spiritual application to the scene I had captured.
Since my brother explained the car was a 1938 Chevrolet, yet the outside which was all I got to see looked brand new except for it’s fashion lines, it was obvious someone had taken great pains to do one of two things: either the car had been kept in pristine condition from the day it left the manufacturer or it had been totally refurbished from its undercoating all the way to it’s outer sheen. Since the color was as bright a red as any Santa’s suit ever seen and as shiny as a reflective ornamental garden ball, my guess is the latter best fits the car’s past. It was definitely eye-catching and a beauty to behold with memories to recall. With those images in mind, I wonder, is that how I appear as one of Christ’s attractions and reminders in this world?
Oh, but I am no longer fresh off the showroom floor and the dust of this world keeps trying to dim the shine! Family members and dear friends are suffering severe physical ailments, precious loved ones are dying, and personal daily life changes are discouraging. However, just as with that antique car (only with a “forever inside and out fix” for me!), “I do not lose heart, but though my outer woman is decaying, yet my inner woman is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for me an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while I look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. That is why I never give up. Though my body is dying, my spirit is being renewed every day. For my present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for me a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So I don’t look at the troubles I can see now; rather, I fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things I cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Paraphrased MSM)
Come, stand beside me and let’s shake off the dust of this world together while we share this shining spiritual scene!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-16-09
Since my brother explained the car was a 1938 Chevrolet, yet the outside which was all I got to see looked brand new except for it’s fashion lines, it was obvious someone had taken great pains to do one of two things: either the car had been kept in pristine condition from the day it left the manufacturer or it had been totally refurbished from its undercoating all the way to it’s outer sheen. Since the color was as bright a red as any Santa’s suit ever seen and as shiny as a reflective ornamental garden ball, my guess is the latter best fits the car’s past. It was definitely eye-catching and a beauty to behold with memories to recall. With those images in mind, I wonder, is that how I appear as one of Christ’s attractions and reminders in this world?
Oh, but I am no longer fresh off the showroom floor and the dust of this world keeps trying to dim the shine! Family members and dear friends are suffering severe physical ailments, precious loved ones are dying, and personal daily life changes are discouraging. However, just as with that antique car (only with a “forever inside and out fix” for me!), “I do not lose heart, but though my outer woman is decaying, yet my inner woman is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for me an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while I look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. That is why I never give up. Though my body is dying, my spirit is being renewed every day. For my present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for me a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So I don’t look at the troubles I can see now; rather, I fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things I cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Paraphrased MSM)
Come, stand beside me and let’s shake off the dust of this world together while we share this shining spiritual scene!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 4-16-09
