Fred and Me

I have had many thoughts about what I needed to blog, but never the thought to get it done.  I thought about the odd feeling of joy and sadness at the killing of Osama bin Laden.  I had joy because justice was served, sadness because he needed Christ just like the rest of us.  Lots of thoughts for Mother's Day, spring time, and just life in general.  What got me to finally sit down and write a thought was Fred.  I was sick the last few days and was treated to repetitive runnings of the movie "Cars."  Though I like the movie, kids have a way of overdoing things.  Even more so when one grows out of something just as the younger one is just getting started.

Fred is an old rusty car that shows up a couple of times in the movie.  He first appears when McQueen meets him at the sponser's tent following the race.  McQueen greets him nonchalantly as "Fred" because "Fred" is on his license plate.  It is the equivalent of the kids whose parents all of their belongings with their names in big letters.  Fred is overjoyed that Lightning McQueen knows his name, in fact he feels he is now a big shot.  He shows up again at the end of the movie trying to enter the pits because McQueen knows him.  While trying to get in, Mario Andretti sees him and greets him by name.  Fred promptly becomes overjoyed that Mario knows his name and feels he should for sure be allowed in now!

This all matters to me because it is so similar to our relationship with God.  He knows us by name!  Not only does He know our names, but He knows every little detail of our lives.  He even knows how many hairs we have on our heads, or bodies if you are anything like me.  The best part is, even though He knows everything about us, He loves us!  It is still amazing to me just to think about it.  Unconditional love from the most powerful being in the universe.

There is another parallel that is just as important.  Even though He knows us, that doesn't get us into Heaven.  Just like Fred, knowing someone doesn't mean we have a relationship with them.  We need our "pit-pass" just like Fred did.  God loves us so much he provided those for us to with His death on the cross.  All we have to do is accept our pass, let Him be the one bringing us in the gates, and follow Him to the finish line.

I just have to say it one more time, "Jesus Christ knows my name!"