February 19, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
Letting go of great treasure
___By John Duncan
___"I'm sitting here under the old tree watching cars pass by. I'm remembering the car I wished I'd kept if only I'd been smart. Hear the story and think of all the things you wish you would have done, because if you'd done them you'd be rich or at least have an antique car to show to your friends. Or think of all the foolish things you've done in your lifetime while rattling your brain with that game called "If only …"
___ The year was 1977. America inaugurated Jimmy Carter as its 39th president. Two 747 airplanes collided in an awful mid-air collision over the Canary Islands, killing 570 people. Human rights buzzed as the hot topic. "Roots" attracted more television viewers than ever for an entertainment program. Walter Cronkite gave the evening news. The Eagles toured America singing "Hotel California." Elvis Presley died. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" pleased wide-eyed movie-goers. And Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett were leading the Dallas Cowboys on a Super Bowl run.
JOHN DUNCAN
___1977 was a monumental year, my sophomore year at L.D. Bell High School. I took driver's education, learned the finer points of city driving from my brother and received the keys to a white one-owner heirloom passed down from my father--a 1966 white Ford mustang. While my mother's prayer life improved, because she had two teenage boys driving, my father and I spent late 1977 and early 1978 refurbishing our white beauty.
___We gave our car a major facelift, two non-mechanics plunging headlong into the trials and tribulations of replacing a leaky radiator. Task accomplished, we clothed the interior with new carpet, painted panels and added an Armoral shine that made the seats glisten in the sun.
___A fender-bender, courtesy of adolescent indecision on Bedford-Euless Road, caused a would be follower to be a sure-to-be tail-gater. I greeted my new-found friend, called the police, and exchanged the necessary insurance information to expedite repairs. The small collision injured no one but bruised my pride. The fender-bender forced me to add a fresh coat of paint to the white Mustang. My first car, now achieving the excellence I so desired, became my pride and joy, a treasure to cherish like fine china; a beauty to show off like dolls on display in the window of the local store.
___ Everywhere I traveled, that old white shining-like-new Ford Mustang caught the eye of many a car-lover. Once while putting gas in my car at the station, a man offered me $1,500 for my car. In the words of a popular movie, was I foolish enough to say, "Show me the money! Show me the money"? Nope. I simply declined, claiming my father's hard work, good memories and good gas mileage in the age of gas wars and gas rations. Besides, what would I drive if I sold my only mode of motor transportation? Worse yet, why hand over a family heirloom for a few pennies? Why give up a valued treasure?
___ Then I hit my senior year. I went brain dead. I am not quite sure what caused this malfunction of mind. Was it falling in love with the girl of my dreams? Was it hitting my head in a high school basketball game? Was it "senioritis," that do-nothing, think-nothing, I-can't-wait-to-get-out-high-school-and-get-out-on-my-own attitude rising up ready to conquer the world?
___I discussed with my father, of all things, getting a new car. I do not remember how our conversations went, except I said, "I'll take a new Mustang, if it's OK." Agreement reached, I surrendered my 1966 white mustang to the auction block and into the hands of a would be Mustang-lover who purchased it. My father drove me down to Helm-Lary Ford, and I picked out a sparkling new, rust-colored, 1979 (my graduation year) Ford Mustang. Glory to God and happy trails! After all, my teenage years neared an end, why not celebrate with something new?
___Three years later, my 1979 Mustang was for sale, only a shadow of the old white Mustang I wish, to this day, I still owned. I learned a valuable lesson, "There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it" (Proverbs 21:20). Only the brain dead give up their inheritance. Fools sale valued possessions. And a foolish son longs for what he does not possess, while failing to hold and gratefully cherish what he does possess.
___Jesus talked about laying up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy (Matthew 6:19-20). Paul added: "See, then, that you walk, should I say, drive, carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). And a man said, "I'll buy your Mustang." And a fool said, "Show me the money." And now I've learned a greater lesson: The brain dead reject Christ's inheritance. Fools barter the kingdom of God. A foolish son craves stuff, while missing out on the Stuff-of-Life.
___And the wise? They lay up treasure in heaven. They redeem the time. They cherish close to the heart life's greatest treasure, Jesus Christ. And a wise man said, "Show me the Savior!"
___ John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines.
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