The Stops of a Good Man
Proverbs 4:26-27
Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.
Three young men from Tampa FL were driving home one evening after finishing a night of bowling. Kevin was driving his white Camaro, his friend Brian was riding in the front passenger seat, and Randall was sitting in the back. They drove through an intersection where a stop sign used to be, but was no longer there. Unaware of any danger, he never even slowed down. He assumed the car in the crossroad would stop. It didn’t (that stop sign was missing, too). The two cars collided; Kevin, Brian, and Randall were instantly killed. An investigation revealed that both stop signs had been stolen as a prank. The guilty teens admitted to stealing other stop signs in the area and dumping them into the river on the outskirts of town. Who would be reckless enough to steal a stop sign?
I can’t help but think of the analogy to our culture today. It seems that wherever God puts up a stop sign, someone comes along and takes it down. Stop signs mean rules. But it’s dangerous to pull down God-ordained stop signs. It’s a setup for disaster. Christians are not immune to tragic collisions. Even believers ignore the fact that God has given us stop signs to help us rather than harm us. They are for our spiritual protection, safety, and security. God isn’t interested in creating a bunch of rules because He’s some kind of cosmic killjoy, but our society would have us think that. God actually sees the headlights of an oncoming car; He’s fully aware of dangerous intersections; He protects us by clearly revealing His wisely ordained stop signs along the road of life.
Are you surrendered to the Lord’s direction for your life? This includes both steps and stops! What are some of the signs that you might be tempted to ignore today . . . or to remove? Whatever form God’s stop signs take, learn to obey them . . . stop signs are there to save your life!