Eternal Alternatives
I was behind a pretty, white Tundra this morning. I found myself wondering what year it was. I would have no way of knowing. There are so many makes and models on the roads these days it would be impossible for me to keep up.
Have you known people like that? People that love cars or at the very least have spent time with cars, and know everything about them? Certainly, the make and model, but also what is under the hood, limited edition info, any and all sorts of trivia. Wendell Stark was that way, especially with older cars. He would often call out the make, model, and year.
His favorite car was a ’55 Chevy. It was always easy for me to remember that because he was born in 1955. He loved old cars. I think because it took him back to his teen years. He and his brothers and friends would buy a car from the junk yard for $50 and drive it until it stopped moving. They would park it, walk away, and buy another.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, there were about 61 million registered automobiles (commercial and private) in 1955. That number grew to over 61 million by 1960.
According to the Hedges Company, there were 286.9 million registered cars in the US in 2020!
We went from Henry Ford and the Model T in 1908, to what we have now. Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, Tesla, Cadillac, GMC, Ram, Dodge, Jeep, Lincoln, Chrysler….and with more makes and models coming out every year than I can possibly keep up with.
Variety.
“Variety is the spice of life”
We want variety, right? We want alternatives.
Speaking of variety. Have you been down the cereal aisle?
When I was a stay-at-home mom with four children ranging in age from 2 to 10, I had a little trick.
When it was time to do some grocery shopping, I made a deal with the kids. We had a little pep talk before leaving the house and a quick refresher in the parking lot of the store. If they were super good in the store while I did my shopping, we would hit the cereal aisle last, and they could each pick out a favorite cereal. It worked, most of the time. My kids were great in the store. I used to get compliments on how well behaved my children were. Of course, there were exceptions, but that cereal aisle held some sway.
The first breakfast cereal invented in the US was done by a guy named John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg was a skilled surgeon and a health pioneer. He created a biscuit of oats, wheat, and corn, which he eventually called “Granola”. In fact, the story behind this invention is interesting.
“In 1863, James Caleb Jackson, a religiously conservative vegetarian who ran a medical sanitarium in western New York, created a breakfast cereal from graham flour dough that was dried and broken into shapes so hard they needed to be soaked in milk overnight. He called it granula. John Harvey Kellogg, a surgeon who ran a health spa in Michigan, later made a version and named it granola. Using the same idea, a former Kellogg patient, C.W. Post, created Grape-Nuts, which would become the first popular product to offer a discount coupon.” (source: nytimes.com)
Will Kellogg, John’s brother created a breakfast cereal by toasting flakes corn. Enter: Cornflakes. The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his brother who was the superintendent. The breakfast cereal proved popular among the patients so Kellogg started what became the Kellogg Company to produce corn flakes for the wider public. A patent for the process was granted in 1896, after a legal battle between the two brothers.
With corn flakes becoming popular in the wider community, a previous patient at the sanitarium, C.W. Post, started to make rival products. Kellogg continued to experiment with various ingredients and different grains. In 1928, he started to manufacture Rice Krispies. (Wikipedia.com)
And so, it began. There are now hundreds of varieties of breakfast cereal.
I get lost sometimes looking at all the different brands for basically the same product, but we want alternatives. From clothing to shoes, to cars to houses we are free to express our uniqueness. It’s okay to want variety. There is nothing wrong with wanting alternatives.
There is however only one alternative to getting off this planet alive. Jesus Christ.
He is the one that can offer eternal life. He is the only one.
John 14:6 quotes Jesus as saying “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
People may ask, why? Why is that the only way to heaven and to the Father? The answer is that He is the only one who lived a sinless life and died in our place on the cross. And because He was also divine, He rose from death and eventually ascended to heaven.
Yes, there is only one alternative to eternal life, but it is the easiest option available. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.