My wife recently received a nice little letter in the mail from Jesse White. Turns out she has a somewhat significant milestone birthday rapidly approaching. I shouldn’t tell how old she will soon be, but it’s also a frequently used and significant number in the Bible. Think rain in Noah’s day. Think Jesus fasting in the wilderness. You get the idea.
He was asking for money. You’d think that maybe on such a special birthday that Jesse might be sending a card with some cash inside to help her celebrate. Something about wanting her to pay for the privilege of operating a motor vehicle upon our tax-payer paved roadways. Go figure.
Upon receipt of this thoughtful note, my wife asked me, “Didn’t you have to get your license renewed on your last birthday?” I answered with the standard guy response: “Uh, I don’t know.” They teach that in guy school, you know. After all, my birthday was all the way back in October. How was I, a guy, supposed to remember something from four months ago?
Anyway, I was pretty sure that my driver’s license was not supposed to expire until 2012. Upon further prodding, however, from my sweet bride, I began to vaguely recall that maybe I, too, had received a similar nice little letter from our Secretary of State. If that were the case, then I’m sure I would have dealt with it appropriately. So, I thought, let’s just get out my license and I’ll prove myself right. Wrong!
A quick “Uh-oh” moment flashed before me when I pulled out a picture of this high-foreheaded guy only to discover in dismay that the red expiration date box read 10-12-09! I couldn’t believe – or maybe bear to admit – that my lovely wife was right, and I had been driving illegally on an expired license ever since!
Well, a hearty discussion ensued as I listened attentively, and we tried to figure out why one of us, namely me, hadn’t taken care of this matter already.
To make a short story not so long, something in that conversation finally triggered my memory. All of a sudden, like one of those “I should have had a V-8” commercials, I slapped my high forehead, retrieved my wallet, pulled out the old driver’s license once more, and this time looked on the backside and behold – there was the official “Certificate of Extension” sticker bearing the name of Jesse White which I had firmly affixed to the aforementioned driver’s license some four months ago. He-he-he. Case solved.
If nothing else, I hope you take some comfort in knowing that even under-40’s types can still have “Senior moments” once in a while. I tell Amy that with my head crammed so full of Bible knowledge and deep theological ponderings and stuff, there’s just no more room for trivial things like license renewals. She doesn’t buy it, either.
Well, no matter how much stuff we forget about, the one thing I don’t ever want to forget is knowing God. Moses warned the Israelites that when the Lord would bring them into the promised land, “a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deut. 6:11-12).
But guess what? They forgot. They did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them. They forgot the God who saved them, the God who cared for them, the God who fed them and satisfied them. And they suffered for it.
God has sent you a nice little letter, friend. Only He’s not asking for $30 for another four years of driving privileges. He’s offering you abundant and eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Now is the time to act – before your life expires! Don’t ever forget the goodness and mercy of our God!
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