Roller Skates and Mini Bikes!

OK, what do roller skates and mini bikes have in common? . . . Well, they both have wheels. . . they both can get you somewhere and they can both bring lots of fun.  I guess something else they both have in common is that there is the assumption that those riding the mini bike and those using the roller skates have just a little common sense!  But, that last one is probably stretching it a little far for some.

I recall a time when we apparently wanted to test Newton's three laws of Motion.  When I say "we" I really mean my sister, Angie, and my cousin, Jay.  It was one hot south Louisiana afternoon and we were all around the house riding our mini bikes and some were skating as well.  (at this point these were two seperate events)  As would often happen, the need arose to make a trip to our local market, Midway Groceries, for something (honestly, I cannot remember what for. . . but that is not the point anyway).  So, it was Angie and Jay who volunteered to go the store.  Jay would be driving the mini bike and Angie would be riding on the back.  Now, that sounds scarey enough as it is but if you add to this the fact that neither Angie or Jay did not think it was necessary to remove their roller skates . . . then you can see where this may be going.

Now, I was not an eyewitness of the actual events so I am only recounting what was told to me by the parties involved.  Appatently all was well for the trip to the store.  It was upon arriving at the local establisment that the thought of Newton's law came in question.  For those who don't recall this law, it basically says something like this:

I. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Apparently when arriving at the store in an attempt to stop the roller skates blocked the break pedal and would not allow Jay to apply pressure to bring the mini bike to a slow stop. Attempts by Angie to stop the mini bike with her feet were unsuccessful as the skates provided very little resistance.  (thus the law of objects staying in motion)

Now for Newton's second law of motion:

II. The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

This just means that the speed they were going on the mini bike did make a difference!

And now, for the third Law:

III. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

It is at this point I would like to introduce the post.  The post was an object not in motion.  The post would soon represent the "opposite" reaction, or perhaps the external force, to the previous mentioned motion of the mini bike and roller skates.  Luckily, the mini bike did miss the post . . . but unfortunately, Angie's knee did not.  The end result was a pretty nasty cut and of course Newton's laws were proven to be accurate.

Below is a very good picture describing this law and the events that took place (of course you will need to replace the car with a mini bike, the wall with a post, add another person and roller skates . . .and no one really flew off the mini bike. . . but other than this this is exactly what happened.)

So, I am sure you are wondering how am I going to apply this to some great biblical truth. . . right?

I could probably quote something like:

Proverbs 15:21 "Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path"

or maybe something like:

Proverbs 1:22 "How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?"

But, I think I like this one best . . .

Proverbs 16:9 "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

I don't know about you, but I am glad we have someone much wiser than all of us to determine our steps.  The good news is that even when we do make mistakes and go the wrong way, He is there to put us back on the right path. 

He WILL direct . . . but the question is . . .will WE follow?

Something to think about. . .

Bro. D