So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
How does a mustang glorify God? I want every part of my life to glorify God, so that means my mustang, too. It turns out, if you look hard enough, you can find ways.
I was sitting at a stop sign one afternoon just after school let out. Four teens were waiting to cross, and I enjoyed watching them just enjoy their freedom from school. They stopped when they saw me, but I waved them across. "Cool car," the one boy said as they passed my Rosie. I smiled and waved. Another boy said, "Wow, usually people who drive cars like that don't usually wait."
That same day, as I was pulling in to Lowes, with my windows down and my praise music blasting, a guy said to me, "You don't usually hear that (praise music) coming from that," as he pointed to my ever-so-pretty, cheery red mustang. I smiled as I walked by him, but it got me thinking, maybe I can glorify God in a mustang.
I realized this means no speeding, no frustration with other drivers, no aggressive driving, etc. Ugh! It means being intentional in how I drive. Every. Single. Minute.
Can I tell you, it has been quite a learning experience. I was driving to Urbana the other day, following someone going 40 mph, the entire way from West Liberty to Urbana. I grumbled and then remembered, all glory to God. So I turned up the praise music and tried to let it go.
Paul tells us that everything we do should be aimed at the glory of Yahweh, at pleasing and honoring Him. (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1) He's also reminding us that our Christian freedom shouldn't bring spiritual harm to other believers by setting up a stumbling block. (1 Corinthians 10:30)
I had a friend who is a lovely Christian woman, but one particular day was causing her to react in a very human way. From the moment she got out of bed that day, nothing went right. By the time 4:30 rolled around, she was late getting to the grocery, making dinner late, and most probably the guitar lesson late too. Apparently, she used a hand gesture as she passed a car and left them in the dust, or so she thought. Two minutes after she pulled into the grocery parking lot, that same car she passed pulled in right beside her.
When she walked into the grocery, her face was scarlet, but she still walked up to the woman from the car and apologized. Later, she shared with me that this woman was trying to pull her life together and was looking for a church. This woman knew my friend was a Christian, and that she was such a poor example of Christ devastated my friend. She never wanted to be the reason for someone to question God. Today those two women laugh over that moment of humanity. It's a friendly reminder though, we do have the "right" to do anything, but it isn't always beneficial. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
Buying a mustang didn't make me better at glorifying God. Holy Spirit's nudging is what reminds me to do that. And I feel that nudging because I spend time with Him in God's word. I would like to tell you I always glorify God when I'm driving Rosie or anything else, but my humanity slithers its way in more often than I'd like. So I won't let myself get too frustrated as I work toward glorifying God in everything. It won't be perfect this side of heaven. But there is so much joy in simply trying!