The View from the Saddle

Ephesians 3:16-18 

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, {17} so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, {18} may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”

When our children were in grade school we took a family trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota.  After driving a lot of non-descript flat-land miles we arrived at one of the most striking places in our country.  Our travels took us winding through the Black Hills, along the Needles Highway, through the Badlands, and around the wilderness loop of Custer State Park.  What impressive things we saw! – towering peaks, lush meadows, majestic wildlife, and other-worldly landscapes.  Every vista was wonderful testimony to God’s creative power.  Our three young daughters enjoyed every minute of it. My wife and I did, too.   It was one of the best trips we ever took.

About a decade later I did it again.  Only that time I was seeing it all again from the saddle of my Harley.  I saw all the same things and went to all the same places as I had with the family in our van, but the experience was completely different.  The Black Hills were no longer limited by the size of the van windows and windshield.  They seemed bigger, but that’s because I could see more of them.  I wasn’t driving past the lush meadows and sun-dappled valleys, I was in them.  The buffalo on each side of the road were even more majestic and thrilling.  There was an immediacy to everything.  I smelled all the smells.  I felt the subtle temperature changes as I rode in and out of the sun and up and down the hills.  It was all so....”right there.”   I wish everybody could experience that beautiful area the way I did on that trip.

Paul thought the same way about God’s grace.  If we only see it as a “drive-by” attraction from the comfort of our spiritual tour bus (pew), we are going to miss so much.  He prayed that the Ephesian Christians – and you and I – would slow down and take a closer look at God’s amazing, saving love in Christ.  He prayed that we would take the trip often and look more intently at that grace displayed in the person and work of Jesus.  There is always something else to see we did not spot on previous drives.  There is always some new vista opening up that will help us appreciate all the more the length and width and depth and height of God’s love for us.   

So rev up your Bible.  Don’t twist the throttle quite so hard.  Open your eyes and your heart and take it all in.  That’s God’s grace over your head, under your wheels, and all around you!

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