It used to be that you never needed to lock the front door of your home. Kids
could roam the neighborhood freely, and you could leave your bicycle leaned up
against a tree while you went into a store. No more. Nowadays we have no choice
but to lock everything up. Unless we don't mind parting with some of our
precious things, that is.
In universities for example, students who leave their laptops unattended, even
for five minutes, find themselves laptopless for the remainder of the term.
Crime is on the rise and people feel more and more vulnerable.
There are some pretty ingenious ways to prevent theft out there. More and more
vehicles have anti-theft chips installed in them. If for some reason the car
runs away without permission, it can be easily located via its chip. Herbie the
Love Bug wouldn't have been able to get very far!
Some computers have very special devices installed on them that prevent
unprohibited access: the owner's thumbprint has to be recognized for access. If
you have the wrong thumb, you're out of luck! I wonder what would happen if
someone burned his thumbprint off accidentally on the stove. Would he loose all
the data stored on his laptop?
I have heard of men who lock their wives up at home, for fear of infidelity.
This never turns out to the favor of the husband! Others lock their teenagers in
their rooms, only to find out that they sneak out the window at night.
Then there was the bicycle we found padlocked over the side of a railing above
Ketchikan creek in Alaska. A thief would have his hands full trying to hold onto
the bike while cutting off the padlock, not to mention avoiding the stares of
the many tourists in the neighbourhood!
Crime is on the rise and people will do anything to keep their belongings safe.
Is this why so many have no time to really love others? "Because of the increase
of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." (Matt 24:12 NIV)
Are we so preoccupied by the futile pursuit of life that we totally overlook
what really matters? Let's look at what the Word of God says: "No one has ever
seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us." (1 John 4:12 NIV); "And now these three remain: faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13 NIV)
There is nothing wrong with trying to prevent unnecessary loss, but these
attempts can turn into obsessions. I may be able to find a thousand and one ways
to prevent my bike from being stolen, but if I have no love, I am but an empty
shell with a bike!
WWJD (What would Jesus do) is a worthwhile motto that will keep us focused on
what really matters.
P. S. By the way, is your bike by any chance blue?
Rob Chaffart
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