C or G is a huge difference

I pulled up at the light; actually, at the end of a string of cars waiting at the light. In the lane next door, sitting impatiently like a little boy waiting on the recess bell, was a biker sitting on his semi-customed Harley. He wasn't your typical "Hog" jockey so I guess that's why the whole thing caught my attention. He was rather small framed, so he looked odd and out of place.

Most of the time, you see guys riding those wondrous throaty machines that are large enough to spill out on either side of them. This guy was almost dwarfed by the gas tank alone, not to mention the massive rumbling engine he perched atop that made the bike shake noticably as it not so patiently waited to come roaring alive once the pie turned green.

As I studied the unusual site, a question welled up inside me. I wondered how much horse power per pound he had at his disposal? My mind wouldn't get off that thought. I estimated the horse power rating of the bike's big V-twin engine and I looked again at it's controller, who more and more took on the appearance of an astronaut attempting to steer an Apollo rocket with hand throttles.

Then I noticed the other machines around me - most of whom, like so many American motorized vehicles, had only one person occupying space within them. "Let's see, weight to horsepower... I bet that guy, pound for pound, has a higher rating than even that huge truck over there."

About then the stack of idled autos started to lurch forward. We were once again moving. I expected my biker buddy on the right to roar off the line (almost as if NASA control had hit the launch button). But he didn't. The roar was that unmistakeable and patented Harley Davidson rumble, but it had been tamed, like that of a big cat in a zoo. Obviously holding tremendous power at bay, he pulled smoothly off the line; straightening back up off his temporary left foot tripod and onto only his two wheels again.

That's when it hit me like a bolt of lightning - C versus G! Why would someone want to drive something so powerful when it wasn't really necessary to get him from point A to point B? After all, wouldn't a fraction of that horsepower get him to the same place? Of course, the same was true for the rest of us, too. I didn't need all the space I was occupying on the road either.

What causes us to cling to cars, SUV's, motorcycles and such that are so obviously manufactured with overkill engines? They aren't in the best interest of the planet. Therefore, they aren't in our best interest in the long run. The answer was clear - just change the idea of being eco-efficient with ego-efficient and you have your answer. It's a very small change - just a C to a G, but what a huge difference to our world.

Someone once asked me what I thought was wrong with our world. My answer was, and is, very simple: we are! At the very root of things, human beings are selfish. That's the original sin Adam and Eve discovered in the Garden. It's the basis for every other sin, misdeed, crime, hurtful relationship, etc. It runs so deep in us we're not even aware of its presence most of the time. To surgically remove it would kill the patient.

That's why God alone is the only one qualified to fix the problem. He alone has the ability to perform such a delicate operation without destroying the very one He is attempting to save. As one Bible verse puts it: "A bruised reed He will not break."

All self-effort at improvement, therefore, is nothing more than window dressing on selfishness; changing what was once putrid into palatable, according to taste. It never addresses the root cause but merely coats the sinful essence with a measure of tolerability.

God's plan to redeem us from our sin through the sacrificial and completely atoning death of Jesus is still the only cure. Even with that, we'll not see the total restoration of a pure nature until we stand before Him in eternity. But, at least we know that freedom from selfishness is possible, and promised in Him. The next time you sit at traffic light, think about it. You might spend that time talking to God about getting free in Christ yourself. It's that important!