When my friends gather and we talk about motorcycles we usually get around to why we gave them up. Most of us agree that the best way to get over riding a bike is to have one. Sooner or later you have a good reason to quit.

One of my friends said he gave up biking one day about thirty feet off the ground. He mistook a gravel pit for the top of a hill and decided halfway down that he was much too old for the sport.

I gave bikes up for a less dramatic reason, but my resolve was no less firm.

Carolyn thought I had the best bike a man could possibly have: It almost never ran. I was working on it one evening in the garage and had it partially dismantled when I realized I needed to buy a part. While I was gone, my oldest son, who was helping me, decided to crank it over a couple of times. The gas line was disconnected, the spark was not, the engine was hot and the bike burst into flames.

Caroyln heard the commotion in the garage and ran to the rescue. She had somewhere read that you shouldn't put water on a gasoline fire so she grabbed a five pound bag of flour and dumped it on the bike. She put out the fire and saved the garage, but when I got home and saw my bike I thought she had magically transformed it into a gigantic biscuit. Having heard her mutter a few times about what she would like to do to it, I had no doubt that she would have done it if she could. I just didn't know that she could.

I was amazed! The flour wasn't caked on; it was baked on like a concrete shroud. I was so disconcerted that I gave the bike to a friend. For a long time he didn't even know that it was a motorcycle; he thought I had given him the world's largest angel food cake.

I haven't been on a bike since. I haven't even had the urge.

I still remember our conversation that night; after the bike and I cooled down a bit. I asked Carolyn why she put out the fire with flour. "Well" , she said a little defensively, "it worked, didn't it?" She was right, of course, but I could only think of Phrrhus' historic words after the battle of Ausculum (in which he decimated his army), "One more such victory and I am lost."

But then, I couldn't stay mad. I know Carolyn too well; she was only trying to help.

And I thought of something Paul said: "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5). We cannot and must not judge another's intentions. It's presumptuous of us to do so. And it's premature. When Jesus comes He will bring to light the hidden motives of every heart. Then Carolyn will receive her praise from God.