Have you ever noticed a red or yellow dot on a set of new tires and wondered what it meant? Does it have something to do with the cost? Does this mark a defective tire – red meaning beware, low budget tire, and yellow meaning I should proceed with caution? If I have both a red and yellow dot, does that mean my tire is of the lowest grade and quality?
The answer to all the questions is the same: NO.
In all honesty, I didn’t know what the dots meant until I read an article from The Family Handyman.1 I have seen the dots on my tires but never cared to ask. If it was important, I assumed my mechanic would have told me. And, since I’ve purchased several sets of tires in 41 years of driving and didn’t have this knowledge, it must not be that important. Or is it?
Evidently, the companies that manufacture the tire rarely produce a perfectly round or balanced tire. Once the tire is made, it is assessed for irregularities. A yellow dot is placed where the tire weighs the least. The red dot indicates where the tire is the lowest or flattest. What difference does this make?
When the mechanic mounts your new tires on the rim, it’s not as simple as putting it on the rim, inflating the tire, and it’s done. If the mechanic sent you like that with your new tires, you wouldn’t be a mile up the road before you turned around and headed right back to the garage. Your car would vibrate and shimmy. At higher speeds, the tire will “hop,” causing less contact with the pavement and less control for the driver.
To fix this problem, the tires are spun on a balancer. The machine will indicate where wheel weights should be added to provide balance to the tire. Once those are in place and the new, balanced tires mounted on your vehicle, you are going to be treated to a smooth ride. The dots give the mechanic some indication of where the imbalance is located even before spinning the tire.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if the Lord had put red and yellow dots on us so we could quickly see where we are out of balance?
Even though the Lord didn’t do that, He did give us a way to KEEP our lives balanced. Let’s go back to the mechanic’s garage and think about the wheel balancer and your tire. Look carefully at the tire and especially the rim.
The hole in the center of the rim is called the center bore. Around the bore are lug holes so when the tire is mounted to the car, it can be securely fastened with the lug nuts. From the center are the spokes that give your wheel its personality. The tire goes around the outside or barrel of the rim.
Now, if you are still with me, here’s where it gets good. The tire cannot be balanced accurately if the wheel is not securely fastened on the balancer. This all happens at the center bore. When the tire is put on the balancer, it must be tightly secured in the center or balancing is impossible. Are you starting to see where I’m driving? (pun intended)
Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus must be at the center of our life, and we must be tightly bound to Him with a desire to live out His life through us. This has to be our priority. Otherwise, our life will be out of balance. We will wobble our way through this world, being a danger to ourselves and everyone around us.
The spokes of our life are everything else: work, family, friendships, church, etc. None of those will be right if we aren’t balanced and we can’t get balanced if we are not securely fastened to Jesus in the middle of our life.
Perhaps some weights will be added to our life. It could be ongoing struggles or difficulties we wish would go away. Paul wanted the weight of his “infirmities” to go away but he had to come to a different conclusion. 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Those infirmities were weights that kept him spiritually balanced.
Let the Lord’s instructions found in Colossians 3:1-3 help you get your life balanced today. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
1https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/red-or-yellow-dot-tire/
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