In 1985, I bought my first car – a 1973 Oldsmobile Omega. I was so excited – and proud. I loved that car. It got me around the area as well as through my first three years of college. That car travelled through five states – Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia – and all I had to do were minor repairs.
I only had the car for a week, though, when headlines in the Bryan Times reported that the dealership where the car was purchased had gotten busted for turning back the odometers. People thought the vehicle they purchased had lower miles than was actually true. Cars were being recalled. Thankfully, my car wasn’t one of the altered vehicles.
“Odometers were first developed in the 1600s for wagons and other horse-drawn vehicles to measure distances traveled. Arthur P. and Charles H. Warner of Beloit, Wisconsin developed the first odometer for the automobile which appeared in 1903 and was patented as the Auto-Meter.
“The brothers would also patent other items including a tachometer, paper making machine, electric brake, and power clutch. At one point their business, Stewart-Warner Speedometer corporation developed a thermometer for the motor. However, they faced a lawsuit for patent infringement which they ultimately lost…
“While technology has changed greatly since 1903, the odometer continues to track how far we have traveled. It also tells us how far we go in a single trip.”1
If only odometers could talk. Every mile has a story, some happy, some sad. The odometer silently reminded you to change your oil every 3,000 miles and to do the maintenance required at certain intervals. It also marked milestones – 50,000, 75,000, 100,00.
From there, you started noticing every 5-10,000 mile change. By now, it’s become a
game. You decided to drive it till the proverbial wheels fell off. Crossing the 200,000 mile threshold is an accomplishment as well as a reminder that your vehicle is probably on life support and isn’t going to make it much longer.
So, how many miles do you have on your odometer? I’m not talking about your car. I’m talking about the temporary vehicle the Lord’s given to you in which to traverse the world. We acknowledge the turning of the odometer every birthday.
The Lord tells us what the average mileage we can expect on our vehicles. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten (70); and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years (80), yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psalms 90:10) We know that some vehicles never make it to 70 and several vehicles surpass 80. Eventually, though, every vehicle winds up at the junk yard. We give the junk yard more sensitive and delicate names: Fountain Grove Cemetery, Shiffler Cemetery, Floral Grove Cemetery, Riverside Cemetery. You get the idea.
Just like with our automobile, we never know when our personal vehicle is going to go on the fritz. It could be minor repairs that are usually untimely and costly. Or it could be those ultra-serious repairs that require work on the engine, computer, transmission, or some other major component.
Eventually, though, we hit a point where that vehicle is no longer road worthy and must be retired – permanently. That’s okay – in fact, something to look forward to with anticipation. 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 says, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (3) If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (4) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
The best advice I can give you today is to make every mile of life count. Enjoy it. Use it wisely. And when its time is up, God has something far better in store.
Memorize this closing verse and let it be an encouragement to you as you travel the roads of life. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
1https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-odometer-day-may-12
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