Over the summer we made a major transition and are living in a new country and learning a new language. Reading takes so long now. First I have to translate the words into English, and then figure out what it actually means. I make a lot of educated guesses (and do a lot of just totally winging it).
In the grocery store, this isn’t such a big deal, even if it’s time consuming. But when driving a car in city traffic, there’s no time for slow deliberation or translation. There’s a lot more (hopefully educated) guessing – based on my previous driving experience, that sign probably means such-and-such and so I need to do this.
Every country also has a lot of driving rules and customs only found in a booklet from the DMV. For example, generally in the US, there’s no sign at a traffic light that says you can turn right on red after stopping – there’s only a sign that says when it’s NOT ok to do it. And so, you might assume, based on previous experience, that turning right on red when it’s safe to do so is acceptable in every country.
Except that it’s not.
In this country, red means stop and stay stopped until the light is green. It doesn’t matter how right you think you are, how good your previous experience as a driver has been, or that you’ve never gotten into an accident due to turning right on red. What you think is not true, and when you act based on your assumptions, you’re breaking the law.
We talked about this the other night in relation to the verse we’ve been learning – “Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!” (Psalm 86:11). It matters if we’re living according to what’s actually true and not just what we think is true. Thinking it’s ok to turn right on red doesn’t make it right, and just because we think or feel like something is right, doesn’t mean that it is.
Eve and Adam ate the fruit because it seemed like a good idea to them (Genesis 3:6) and we’ve all been poor evaluators of the truth since then. But the danger is that if you’re not living according to the truth, “you may think you’re on the right road and still end up dead” (Proverbs 14:12 CEV). We need God to teach us what’s true – the rules of the road if you will – so we won’t crash and burn.
God doesn’t leave us to make educated guesses about how to live and He does more than just lay out the rules in a manual and leave us to make the best of it. He says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8). He is a steadfast and patient teacher, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life so that His sheep would live (John 10:11). Christ demonstrates what is good and right, but He does more than that. He transforms us from the inside so one day we will actually be good and right, as He is.
The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. - Psalm 25:8