When Jesus Met Me

Art by Cathy Martin

By Sharon Byrd

When Jesus met me, I was all messed up,
Kind of like this little truck.
I was broken and dirty and I needed relief,
Even my insides were filled with grief.

My life’s decisions had left me poor,
I knew there had to be so much more,
But, everything I wanted just wasn’t enough,
To be honest, I found life pretty tough.

See, I made myself look like this little truck,
When it was brand new, it was all fixed up.
It had brand new tires and good-looking chrome,
It didn’t need help; it could stand on its own.

At least that’s what it thought,
Or, at least that’s what I thought…

It could go 100 miles an hour and never break down,
Just put some more gas and go all over town.
That’s how I treated me, I never really worried,
But how many know, things get old in a hurry.

Especially if you abuse what you got,
I put my body, like this truck, through a lot,
And my mind, all the things I wish I didn’t see,
All led to the person, that truck was like me.

But, if I could clean up my own life then no one would ask,
Why I don’t run so well even when I put gas.
Nobody really knew, nobody could guess,
That I was really broken, I was really a mess.

Sin made me dirty, and as much as I tried,
To wipe down the dirt, I still could not hide.
Really bad decisions had put some dirt on me,
And there was no way I could really get clean.

So this is what I did…

I tried to fix my tires, I shined them all up,
I even washed the windows of my little truck.
If I could just make it shine, I thought, no one would know,
If I could get a new paint job, yeah, then my life would glow.

If I could polish the chrome and touch up the paint,
Fix the two bumpers and maybe a bungee cord restraint.
If I could shine my old rims, and wipe everything, too,
Then my old truck would soon look brand new.

See, sometimes we do the same thing with our life,
We try to clean our messes with soap and some wipes.
And even if we clean them, we still know inside,
All the places where the dirt just builds up and hides.

Now, back to Jesus and this little truck,
Jesus wanted me new, not just wiped and cleaned up.
When I surrendered to Him, he took the whole me,
And made me brand new so the world could see.

The best we can do for ourselves when we break,
Is glue up the pieces and try to hide our mistakes.
But, when we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive,
And to give us new hope, so we can go on to live.

Most of us can bathe when our bodies are dirty,
We choose to clean up and try to make our lives pretty,
Be a better person; change our thoughts and our talk,
And, at least for a little while, that’s how we all walk.

We can live in sin and suffer the consequences,
We can try to cover them up or hide all the pieces.
We can even try to explain them away,
And convince ourselves that we are okay.

The one thing we cannot do is cleanse our own souls,
Wash our own sins away, and make ourselves whole.
But the blood of Christ Jesus, the true God who made us,
Is all that we need, the only One that can save us.

So, quit trying to wipe down and put shine on your truck,
And give Jesus your life so He can fix you all up.
Not a washed-over truck held together with glue,
But a new heart and new mind, a new truck, a new you.

Let Jesus clean you up.