The Metaphor

If you are on the Jesus bus, metaphors are applied often. I
liked 'the Jesus bus' metaphor right from the start.The bus can be either of the school bus variety or the term used for electronic signal conductors - bidirectional universal switch. A bus can take you somewhere, or a bus can provide electronic signals and power. In either case, you want to be on the bus.

In the corners of my mind, there are a store of pleasant memories associated with riding a bus. Back in the day, every school kid rode the bus. The bus took you to places you had never been before, with all your friends, who had never been there before.It was an exciting place to be, riding the bus. You knew that the bus was going to get you there safely, and you didn't have to worry about how you were going to get there. All you had to do was enjoy the ride.

The Jesus bus has a lot in common with the school bus metaphor.Look at the passage below.

Mt 6:25 So I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about
food or drink, or about clothing for your body. Is not life more
than food, and the body more than its clothing?

Mt 6:26 See the birds of heaven; they do not put seeds in the
earth, they do not get in grain, or put it in store-houses; and
your Father in heaven gives them food. Are you not of much more
value than they?

Mt 6:27 And which of you by taking thought is able to make
himself a cubit taller?

Mt 6:28 And why are you troubled about clothing? See the flowers
of the field, how they come up; they do no work, they make no
thread:

Mt 6:29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was
not clothed like one of these.

Mt 6:30 But if God gives such clothing to the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is put into the oven, will he
not much more give you clothing, O you of little faith?

Mt 6:31 Then do not be full of care, saying, What are we to have
for food or drink? or, With what may we be clothed?

Mt 6:32 Because the Gentiles go in search of all these things:
for your Father in heaven has knowledge that you have need of all
these things:

Mt 6:33 But let your first care be for his kingdom and his
righteousness; and all these other things will be given to you in
addition.

Mt 6:34 Then have no care for tomorrow: tomorrow will take care
of itself. Take the trouble of the day as it comes.

I really like the 33rd verse. It speaks to the priority of things in life. The highest priority, at least according to Jesus, was to pursue knowledge of and obedience to the Father.

Then, as the source of all that is, look at the other verses,it is his pleasure to give you all that you need. He gives to all of creation, more than is needed. If you think about it,flowers are not just a thing of aesthetic beauty, they posses an extravagant beauty.
I used to have a large garden of day lilies. They have a brilliant color and over sized petals. But they bloom one day only, in a burst of color and are gone the next. I believe that we take pleasure, because the Lord takes pleasure in his creation. It's there for our enjoyment.

The only thing in this world that robs the soul of normal enjoyment of Creation, is satan, the original sinner. On the Jesus bus, there is a cure for the problem of sin, that robs us of the pleasures of life. Jesus is the cure, and simple faith in him is all that's needed to apply the cure.

Ro 10:9 Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,
and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from
the dead, you will have salvation:

Ro 10:10 For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness,
and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.

Remember the Edgar Winter Group song 'Free Ride'. Well, the Jesus bus is the ultimate free ride. Jesus paid for your ticket. Get on the bus.