He Had Character

I am sitting here drooling over a picture of a 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby CT 500.  It has 650-horsepower, will top 200 mph and will do zero to 60 in 4 seconds.  It is deep red with black stripes.  It is gorgeous.  It is a long way from the 1964 1/2 mustang we had in 1964.   Now some of you are asking, “Why would you want something like that?”  And the answer is “you are obviously not a guy.”  This is a heart-pounder for anyone who shaves or will someday shave his chin.

But how would I use it?  Where can one drive 200 mph other than in Wyoming and that’s a long way from Massachusetts.  One could have great fun at traffic lights embarrassing every teenager in his wannabe.  It’s an ego thing for an old guy.

Often I have prayed for great spiritual power. But how would I use it?  The correct answer should be to win hundreds of thousands for Jesus.  The real answer would most likely be to feed my ego that “I was God’s man of the hour.”  I could pretend to be humble and do the talk show circuit, but would most likely come to ruin and eternal loss loving all the attention and the limelight of the networks.

With great privilege (power) comes great responsibility.  Great responsibility needs great character.  Jesus always used His power for others.  While He said He could have called thousands of angels to come to His side, instead He touched lepers and blind people.  He would never have done what I would do and figure out how to get a 650-horsepower chariot.  He walked.  He went into solitary places where He could spend time with His Father.  He had (has) character.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 31, 2012

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org