Three Miles an Hour

Have you ever gotten very annoyed at the driver in front of you because they were driving exactly the speed limit?

And then, after you have passed that person in a huff of self-righteous indignation unbefitting a true Christian, found yourself side-by-side with that same driver at the next stop light?

As I have written before, I have found that the most difficult place on earth to be a genuine Christian is behind the steering wheel of my own motor vehicle. It’s the main reason I don’t have a Jesus fish on the back of my car. There are times when I fail to be the salt and light I am called to be. 

I noticed long ago that my temper, my patience, and my witness as a disciple of Christ were stretched to their thinnest when I was in a hurry or rushed. It seems temptation has the upper hand when I’m trying to go faster than I should.

But a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Cliff Wrener at Harbor Church of Cottage Grove was delivering a sermon and suddenly imparted an amazing bit of information that truly resonated with me:

Jesus walked.

Of course! A disciple is someone who follows Jesus and there is no recorded passage anywhere in the Bible of Jesus running anywhere!

Yes, there is the passage in the Parable of the Prodigal Son where the father runs to the returning son, but it’s very clear that this detail is included because such behavior was the exception to the rule. 

In fact, as you read the New Testament, it’s very clear that the pace of Jesus’ ministry was at walking speed. Wrener even referenced a book called “Three Mile an Hour God” which makes that very point because that is average human walking speed. (I have not read this, but the reviews are good. The title alone is enough!) 

The point is that Jesus moved at the speed of relationships. 

We walk with Jesus. We follow Him and invite others to walk with us, to meet Jesus in our day-to-day lives as we start, grow, and build relationships as we walk through life together.

It’s not rocket science, and the more I think about it, the more it’s clear we are not designed or built to move at light speed. 

Now, that’s not to say I am condoning sloth or laziness. Jesus clearly had tasks that He and His disciples accomplished, but it never seems like they were in a hurry. As I read through the fruit of the Spirit Paul gave us in Galatians 5: 22-23, it’s very clear that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all three-mile-an-hour qualities.

We are eternal beings, living a temporal existence. At some point, we will have eternity stretched out before us and all of our rushing and deadlines will be irrelevant.   

Today’s Praise

2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (NIV)