Ford Motor Company is preparing to spend $1.84 billion to develop a car that will get 70 miles per gallon.
Wow! $1.84 BILLION.
I should have talked to them before they made their investment plans, because I have a secret in which they might be interested.
I once owned a car that I drove thousands of miles over the course of many months without ever having to put gas into it.
It was kind of like the incident described in 1 Kings 17.
During a time of drought and famine Elijah requested that a widow bring him a little something to eat and drink. What? Didn’t he know that she had next to nothing for her son and herself? In fact, they were down to their last handful of meal . . . once they had eaten that. . . well, she did not expect to survive.
And Elijah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son.
For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'”
And she went and did as Elijah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah.
When I was in Iceland I bought an old Bonneville so I could get out and explore a bit. The Icelandics joked that it was the largest car in Iceland, but I know for a fact that both the U.S. and Russian embassies had larger cars. None of my friends who were stationed there owned their own vehicles. I figured that God owned the car so I devoted it to him by allowing any of my church friends to use it any time they desired.
Every time that the needle on my gas gauge would fall beneath the half-empty mark, someone would borrow the car. A few hours later they would return it, and the gas tank would “miraculously” be full. Every single time.
I do not exaggerate when I say that I drove it thousands of miles over the course of months without ever putting gas into it. The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail.
Now, it may just be me, but I think that a car like that has a whole lot more value than the 70 mpg car that Ford is spending $1.84 billion to develop.
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