These hot, dry summer days take me back to the old hay-hauling days. Back in the sixties, the most common way of getting the hay baled up was with small bales. Large round bales were not common. Us teen-age boys were out to make a buck, so we would hit the hay fields in the summer, to get truck-loads of those bales in the barn. Common among the farmers, was the old flat-bed truck with the “grandma” gear. This was the low gear that could be engaged and the truck would slowly creep across the field. The driver had time to jump out of the truck and grab a bale or two and throw it on the truck, then jump back in to make sure the truck was steering where it needed to go. Usually, the operation of the steering wheel was so stiff, whatever direction you turned it in would be maintained by itself without any problem. It was a small work-out just to turn the steering wheel. The power steering was in the arms and shoulders, not in the truck. Then, when you wanted to head to the barn, you would stick it in a higher gear, which still offered a loud whine in the bumpy ride to the barn. My earliest days of driving were in the hay field guiding the flatbed across the field in “grandma” gear. Oh yes, and the heat. With the boiling heat of the day upon us, the driver of the truck had the privilege of sitting in the cab with all the engine heat right there in your face. It was actually a relief to jump out for a moment into the outside air that was just “normal” heat. But that vehicle served its purpose to get the job done that needed to be done just fine. A cute little zippy corvette wouldn’t be worth two cents in the hay field. On the other hand, the old “grandma” flat-bed wouldn’t do well at all on a high-speed interstate highway. I don’t think there was any such thing as an interstate in those days. So, we need to realize that we are all different, and we all serve a different function. It’s crazy to take a corvette out there just to haul three or four bales. And, we don’t need to throw a rod sailing down some road trying to be something we are not designed to be. When the Lord Jesus Christ saves us, He calls us to a walk with Him in which there is no condemnation. There is direction and growth and change, but this is so we can fulfill the purpose to which He calls us. The flat-bed with a grandma gear does not need to try to be a corvette, and the corvette does not need to try to be a flat-bed. In the Lord, we can be who we are, be filled and led by His Spirit, and be all who God calls us to be.