Chasing Telephone Poles

As a young boy, I loved cars.  I had a few Matchbox ® and Hot Wheels ™ cars, and Tonka ® trucks.  As I grew into my teen years, antique autos became an obsession.  I memorized as much information about cars, their styles, their engines, marques, models, you name it, I wanted to commit it to memory. 

Often, I would go to car shows; I even attended a meet to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Stanley Steamer.  Often, a vintage car would pass by and drag my attention along with it.  I wanted to drive and own classic cars.

Then reality set in.   After college, I needed a job to pay off all my bills.  The trouble was, there weren’t too many jobs at the time.  I managed to find work and worked on paying off my college loans.  I managed to buy a classic car I was going to restore.  The problem was, I either had no place to work on the car but money to buy parts and tools, or I had a place to work on the car with no money for parts and tools.  Feeling like a ping pong ball, I decided to sell it.

Many years ago, when I was a teenager, I was visiting my grandparents in Virginia.  My grandfather had a little English bulldog that he would take with him whenever he drove his large Oldsmobile.  He explained to me that the dog was crazy as it would randomly try to jump out of the passenger’s side of the car.

So, one day he took me with him for a drive.  And sure enough, the dog randomly leaped toward the passenger window apparently at random.  This happened a few times before I started to notice a pattern.  Since the dog was only able to see the sky from its vantage point, whenever we passed a telephone pole, the dog was attracted by the motion and lunged after it.  Had the window not been rolled up the dog may have actually leapt from the car as it was moving and broken its neck.

Like me, the dog was focused on the wrong thing.  When we chase dreams, they can draw us far away from the reality of our lives.  I believe that God has placed us on this planet so that we can focus on the things He wants us to do.  When we focus on Him, life doesn’t necessarily get easier, but the basis for our decisions changes.  No longer are we randomly chasing telephone poles.  Our decision is to choose meaningful work.  But, not just meaningful, do-it-because-it-is-the-greater-good; no, doing it because Jesus Christ promises us that when we do His work, we store up treasures in Heaven.

Stop chasing telephone poles that can distract you from God’s real purpose for your life.  Start chasing after Him; run if you have to!