Loud, Fast, and Shiny

It was a beautiful, warm Saturday night. The wild, youthful spectators gath­ered to watch the unbelievable sight. Powerful muscle cars from all over the brightly-lit city were attracted to the famous Queensborough Expressway. Here, the car-idol worshippers would show off their polished beauties. What did they look and sound like? Metallic peacocks parad­ing their gorgeous feathers, in a world of supersonic noise. No doubt the drivers had inflated egos and were proud of their high-performance cars. They wanted to be popular and get all the attention they could. Theirs were lives of action, packed with danger and adventure. Hundreds and hundreds of young people and many police, too, came to see the races.

The Corvette Stingray called The Wild Thing was begging to be let loose from captivity. Late that Satur­day evening, it came out of hibernation to test the power of its engine and the skill of its driver-owner.

As the motor started, it shook and roared ferociously while the driver waited with taut nerves and tense muscles at the starting line. (Incidentally, all the traffic on the highway had to stop while the thrill-seekers were lined up for the race.) While the super engine of the silver Stingray revved in high speed, the enormous crowd shouted expectantly. At the count of three, the clutch was quickly released and full throttle given for a fast getaway. Of course, the tires squealed and left a trail of powdery rubber behind. What a waste!
As the driver moved with lightning speed toward the finish line, he knew he had to shift gears quickly, intently watch the tachometer needle, and hope for the best—to win. After each shift, the front end lifted slightly and the heads of the driver and his passenger jerked backwards.

The sensation was exhilarating. It felt almost like the car was airborne. Reaching high speeds within a quarter of a mile was quite dangerous but, at the same time, a short-lived thrill. It was fun!

In Hebrews 11:25, the apostle Paul says that people can “enjoy the plea­sures of sin for a season,” but in the end, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In other words, every pleasu­rable but sinful thing will come to an end.

After about a year of hard driving, the Corvette came to the end of its jour­ney. It was stolen right in front of its owner, at about 2:00 a.m., when most of the city was at rest. Hearing the familiar sound of his car, the owner jumped out of bed to look out the win­dow. Seeing his car being slowly backed out of the ga­rage into the dark alley, he shouted, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
The loud yelling and all the activity awoke his aunt who lived upstairs. To frighten the thieves, she made sounds like a police siren. One thief jumped out of the car and ran. The other continued to maneuver the car out of the garage. The aunt thought of throwing a flower pot down on the thief but was afraid she might kill him. If she had dropped the pot, though, he might have paid a stiff penalty for his crime right then and there. Instead, amid all the shouting and commo­tion, the Corvette and its new driver sped away.

Looking back at this strange incident, one may certainly say that the Lord’s hand was in the matter. God tried to im­press the owner of The Wild Thing that material things should not be made idols, especially when they glorify self. Matthew 6:19 gives good advice. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”

About a week after the theft, the owner found his car again. What did it look like?  A mere skeleton! The human scavengers had taken out the motor, transmission, and other major mechanical parts—even the seats were gone. Indeed, it was a heartbreaking sight. Well, it didn’t take long before the young man wanted another car.

One day, he saw a used black car parked right in front of his house, with a “For Sale” sign on it. The car looked nice, and the price seemed reasonable. Shortly after the purchase, the old engine came out, and a brand-new engine went in. Can you guess what kind of engine it was? Yes, it was a Corvette en­gine. This little car became idol number 2. It was almost unbeatable in race after race on the streets, highway, and track.

Racing continued for a few more years until some missionaries came to the city where the driver lived. Naturally, the missionaries were interested in his sal­vation.  Through the providence of the Lord, he received Bible studies that convicted him of sin. He even had an op­portunity to go from house to house spreading the gospel of Jesus. A mysterious transformation took place in the driver of the black car. He obtained a divorce from his cold steel wife (the black car) and experienced the new birth.  The feeling that he was the “chief of sinners” led him to the foot of the cross to find a loving Saviour there.

“When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of heaven.” -The Desire of Ages, p. 173.

Even though hot-rod racing has come to an end for the dri­ver of the Corvette, he is still racing, but in another sphere—he is racing for eternal life. This race is described in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (NIV).

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.”
All can win this race if they look to Jesus. The finish line is in sight, and the race will soon be over. Then Jesus will take us on a space journey to His eternal kingdom. The faithful will travel faster than any race car. What a glorious future!

May the Lord help us that one day, we—you and I (the driver of that Stingray) and my Aunt Ilse, too—can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV).