The Big Diehl

Gosh, last Sunday, Pastor Ed made several really good points and I took good notes. When I heard him speak last sunday, I thought, “Ooo, I’ve gotta put that in my blog!”
(I’m taking Pastor Ed’s idea here, but I’m translating it into Adam-ese and Hoosier talk):

I have a Pontiac Bonneville. I know how to make the car start, stop, and I can even steer it in the right direction. But when it comes to the mechanics of the car-I don’t know a thing. I can’t even change my own oil. I could pretend that I do, but it would just result in a big mess. That’s why I listen to the mechanics that work on my car. They might tell me to not hit chuckholes anymore. They’ve told me I need to get my oil changed every 3,000 miles. They’ve told me that I needed my transmision fluid flushed. They might give me any number of instructions of how to take care of my car. Do I sit around and whine about how those mechanics are being bossy? Of course not! Those mechanics are telling me what I need to do to take care of my car - and I trust them because THEY MADE IT! They’re not being bossy at all. Mechanics made my car so if there’s something I need to be doing to make my car work - I need a mechanic to tell me. They made it!

The same goes for our spiritual lives. God has given us lots and lots of stuff that we need to do (in the Bible) to make our lives worth living. Is God being bossy? OF COURSE NOT! God made our lives, so if there’s something we need to be doing to make our lives work, we need God to tell us! We need to go to church. We need to read our Bibles. We need to pray everyday. We need to tithe to our church faithfully. We need to do all these things and more - not because its legalistic, not because God is being bossy and wants to control our lives . . . but because God made our lives and he tells us what we need to do to make them work.