Screw in the Tire

 

Wednesday, as my wife was getting into our car, she said, “Is that a nail in our tire?”  I looked and replied, “No, that’s a tiny rock stuck in the tread.”  And I pulled out my pocketknife and picked out the rock.  But another place on the tire caught my eye.  I said, “But this is not a rock.  It’s a screw.”  And so it was.  I didn’t attempt to pull it out because we had two more stops to make before we were home.  But when we got home, I parked the car in front of the garage and turned the steering wheel to expose the tread on the passenger side tire.  Then I rolled the car backward until the screw was just at “2 o’clock” on the tire where I could work on it.  I turned on the air compressor, got out the air hose and air chuck, and found my tire-plugging supplies.  I was ready.  But when I removed the screw, it was only a half inch long and had not pierced the tire; it was just stuck in the rubber tread.  I sprayed the area with 409 soap, but couldn’t detect any leak.  My careful precautions and preparations were unnecessary.  But I didn’t know that until I pulled out the screw.  Hey, in life, we “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”  But what if there isn’t an after-life?  What if the Bible isn’t true?  What if I have wasted my life serving Jesus Christ?  What if the atheist IS right?  Well, let me turn the question around: what if the Bible IS true, and heaven IS real, and Jesus IS the only way to heaven?  Hey, if I am wrong, at least I have lived a clean life.  And I have lived a happy life.  But what if the atheist is wrong?  He has much more to lose … an eternity to lose!  Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  I’ll take my chances on Jesus.  So … what about you?

Honesty

 

I graduated from college in 1978.  It took me eleven years, but that’s another story for another day.  I began teaching at Berean Academy in Hixson, Tennessee.  That first summer I did roofing.  I bought a 1953 GMC pickup truck with a straight 6 - 302 engine.  I paid Mr. Kilgore $200 for the truck in four payments of $50.  My first roof was a two story 4/12 pitch that was fairly easy.  I gave the man a contract price and told him that I would replace any rotted decking underneath.  I had walked over the roof and figured on replacing two pieces of plywood.  But after I tore off the old shingles, I discovered extensive damage to the plywood sheathing.  But I had given my word.  I had no choice but to replace the bad plywood and finish the job.  I gave the man the bill.  He looked at it and said, “I noticed that you had to replace more plywood than you planned.”  I nodded in agreement.  He went on, “I know that we agreed on a price, but I want to pay you for the extra plywood that you bought.”  And he did.  Technically, he didn’t have to, but morally, he knew that he should.  I learned two lessons that day: how to bid roof jobs, and how to be honest.  David said in Psalm 15:4, “… he (God) honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”  When you make a promise, you should hold up your end of the bargain, even if it hurts.  God will honor you if you do.  Do right; God is watching … and others are too.