This past weekend the weather simply was not favorable to ride.
So I did what many of us often do, I went into the garage and looked at my bikes.
I was looking at my Harley, and thinking about all the changes I have made to it. The club bars, the single rider seat, moving the front turn signals...all the things I have done to it that made it mine. It doesn't look quite like any other. It's personal to me in a way only those of us who ride can understand.
I chose this bike and then I made it my own. I spent a lot of time on it, a lot of miles. There are scratches on that bike from when I went down. But I got back up again, we moved on.
Then I thought about how it took me five years to pay it off. There were times when some of those payments were harder to make than other times. It wasn't always easy, but it was worth it.
I paid for it, it's mine. A lot of people shook their heads when I bought it, but I felt it was worth the price.
Reading 1 Cor 6:19-20 (NIV) today, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
Jesus Christ paid for each of us, he gave everything to make us his own. In John he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last..." John 15:16 (NIV)
Like my motorcycle, the Lord choose us, he bought and paid for us and made us his own.
No matter how hard the road is, not matter what lies ahead nothing can change the fact that we are his own, and he felt we were worth the price. There may be some things about us he wants to change, that's his choice, we are his. There may be times when we get scratched up, but that too is part of the journey.
Jesus warned there would be tough times, hard days. But he promises to always be there. He takes care of his own, his word is true.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)
