Sunday Drives with Taylor & How the Old Helps Us See the TRUTH!
Why do we need old things when we can buy new and improved?
Why hang onto something that seems antiquated whenever a new version sufficiently does everything the old did and even more?
Why not buy the newest and best, throwing away all the old and outdated?
Why hang onto something so aged that probably a museum curator would desire to display the old under tempered glass to preserve the old from loss?
Understanding the truth found within the “New” rests upon the wisdom found in reading and understanding the promises found within the “Old.”
On my thirtieth birthday, I must admit, I felt a bit old. Truly there must be something psychological about watching our twenties disappear into the background as we step forward into our thirties.
Nick, a character in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby felt this change, I felt this new season of life, and maybe you too have reached this life-marker and felt the sting as well.
When I turned thirty, I purchased a dingy-red Ford Mustang with a front bench seat, a solid body, and a temperamental engine; yet my niece Taylor and I enjoyed our Sunday drives EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY!!
She had an entire closet of clothing to choose from, but she road home from church with me empty-handed because she knew “her outfit” of clothing (my old sweats pinned at the waist to fit her small frame, my old faded t-shirt, and my old orange Brookfield Zoo hat) was clean and waiting for her in the dresser drawer, just as it was waiting every Sunday afternoon.
Taylor was so young back then and could barely see to the top of the dashboard, but those were the days before car seats were mandatory. So, I would strap the lap-only seatbelt around her tiny waist, manually roll down the two car windows, angle the wing-windows just so, and off we would go, enjoying the day. We traveled across so many roadways.
Those remain some of the best moments of my life—the days AFTER I left my twenties behind and stepped into my thirties—the days of Taylor, Sydney, and Carley.
The Outdated. The Used. The Old, The NO-LONGER Brand New.
Can we gain any value from keeping the old, from restoring the old, from reading the old, and from listening to what the old can teach us?
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
We can gain value from spending time in the OLD.
We can find joy from reading and should hang onto the teachings of the OLD.
We can find pleasure as we invest time and interest in learning from the OLD.
We must listen to the OLD.
There is so much we just won’t understand if we don’t learn from the teachings of the OLD.
Do not believe me but believe God’s Word (both the Old Testament & the New Testament).
God gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision, one where Ezekiel was “set down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
(Ezekiel 37: 1-3 & 12-14)
He caused me to pass among them [God caused Ezekiel to pass among the bones] round about, and behold; there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
And I [Ezekiel] answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”
A profound vision to be sure.
Then a few verses away, we are provided with the explanation of Ezekiel’s vision.
“Therefore prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.
I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land.
Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’ “
God uses us to display His power.
God uses our weaknesses to display His greatness.
God uses us.
We only need to listen and obey God to be used by God for His will.
What builds our faith?
TRUSTING GOD.
SEEING WITH OUR EYES of FAITH.
SEEING THE TRUTH REVEALED.
SEEING THE OLD MEET THE NEW.
In the New Testament, we read of a well-educated man who walked after his own desires UNTIL one day when he met the Lord GOD. On that day (the day of salvation), this man (Paul) realized the truth found in God’s promise—-How mankind’s sins separate each of us from God.
Then Paul sought the Lord, and God opened Paul’s eyes and set him free as God saved Paul’s soul.
Paul walked with God from that day forward.
Paul witnessed of God’s redemptive power to the people around him as he traveled the known world.
Then the Apostle Paul wrote of Ezekiel’s vision (the Old Testament promise revealed in the New Testament)—
“(as it is written, [in the Old Testament] “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the presence of Him, whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.”
(Romans 4: 17)
We must turn away from the darkness and step into the Light, fully seeking God’s forgiveness of our sins.
We must allow God to breathe life into our old dry bones and create a newness of life within us.
As we depend upon the Lord—
We must rely upon God’s power, rest upon His promises, lean fully on Him, and then praise God, giving Him the glory He deserves.
This does not mean we won’t face difficult days and nights filled with fearful thoughts.
However, that DOES MEAN we will become more determined to trust God—Who will win the battle! Let us read & Let us remember the past victories found in the Old Testament. Therein resides the truth to help us face new challenges, as we remain secure within the confidence only God can provide.
“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4: 6-7)
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”
Hallelujah!!! Thank You, GOD.
Yes, Thank YOU, GOD, for your breath of life freely given to our dry bones.
Yes, Thank You, God, for teaching us (even through the memories of Sunday drives with Taylor)—
How the Old Testament manifests within the New Testament, helping us see the TRUTH of YOU!