"Get Your Kicks"

It was interesting on our trip to travel down old Route 66 and learn more about the history of "America's Main Street". From the hit song, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66", written by Bobby Troup and recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946, to the tlevision show "Route 66" playing in the 1960s, the iconic "Mother Road" has been a part of our country's popular culture and folklore for as long as I can remember.

Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926, and originally ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. It served as a major path for people migrating west to seek a better life, immortalized in the John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath". It was a popular highway, passing through the heartland of America, and numerous mom and pop establishments sprang up to cash in on its' popularity.

All sorts of unusual signs, shapes and buildings were erected to catch people's attention as they traveled. Isn't that just what the world does? Offers all kinds of quick and pop fixes to satisfy the longings of people. "Take this and it will make you happy"; Drink this and you will forget your problems"; Buy this and you will feel better"; Stop here and have a night you'll never forget".

I bought into all that for a long time in my life. I medicated, meditated, hibernated and anything else you could do to escape for a little while. But none of it worked. The world's quick fixes are just that-quick. They never last long and you're faced again with that gnawing emptiness inside.

I've heard and I believe that there's a hole inside each of us that nothing but God can fill. I know I searched desperately for years for something to fill it up, to no avail. Then I found that Jesus Christ fits perfectly inside that gaping hole, filling every crack and crevice with His amazing grace. He fills up the holes and quenches the thirsts so that you never need anything else.

"Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give them will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling stream within them, giving them eternal life", John 4:13. NLT