Dave's Deep Thoughts

Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.


They say you can't judge a book by it's cover.
Perhaps the same can be said for a car and its driver

One beautiful morning last summer,
I was leaving to go to work.
It was one of those summer days
when you wish you could be outside all day...
clear skies, soft breeze,
temperatures in the low 80's.

It was a great day to put the top down on the car,
except that I don't have a convertible.

But apparently,
the Amish do.

As I reached the end of my driveway,
I noticed a blue sports car coming down the road.

Now I am not a car junkie.
I see them as transportation, not hobbies.
However, when a sleak, sports car
comes across my path on a beautiful summer morning,
I tend to take notice.

As it got closer,
I really did take notice.

There, in front of my eyes,
was this beautiful blue corvette convertible,
being driven my an Amishman.

Now I must confess
that I don't have proof that he was Amish,
but the dude was wearing the plain clothing of the Amish
complete with suspenders, hat, and beard

He was smoking a pipe
and looking like he was on top of the world.

Now my first question was obvious.....
Why is an Amish man driving a car,
let alone a sports car?
Did his horse have a wounded foot?

But the first question prompted the second......
How did the dude keep
from losing his hat?

He wasn't going fast,
but even the Amish must obey the laws of physics.

I had visions of him waking up before dawn
to milk the cows,
then eating a hearty breakfast,
and then asking his wife to use bobby pins to secure his hat
for his ride to the market.

We expect to see things that make sense
But sometimes things just don't seem to fit....

a tuxedo at a football game,
a Donald Trump at a soup kitchen,
a priest at a tattoo parlor.

Perhaps that is our problem,
we want to make everything fit
into nice convenient categories.

For Christians, that should seem odd,
because we serve a master who was anything but conventional,
when he walked this earth.

He was born in a feeding trough....
He walked the countryside unencumbered by a mortgage payment...
He broke bread with the dregs of society, in their homes
He took his final breath while nailed to a tree.

Maybe the Amish guy with the bobby pins had it right.
Maybe Christians need to be far less predictable.

Do I practice compassion and mercy
to the extent that it turns heads?

Do I live fully willing
to let the things I own
be used of God for His purposes?

Do I practice forgiveness to extravagance
because I have been extravagantly forgiven?

The Apostle Paul said
our citizenship is in heaven, not here on earth.
We should feel out of place in this temporary home called earth.
We should live according the standards of our home yet unseen.

But do we act as if we are out of place?

I must admit my first instinct was to judge the Amish sports car guy.
But as I thought about it,
I realized he was teaching me a lesson.

If I live under the command of Christ,
I will do things far more unusual
than an Amish guy driving a sports car.

I do have one suggestion for the guy....
Get rid of the bobby pins dude.
Take your hat off while driving.
Feel the breeze through your hair.
That's why guys own convertibles.

Now go and surprise someone for Christ
as you let your hair down.....

For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

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