Driving the Straight and Narrow

This week my little girl passed her driving exam. Though I did my share of coaching along the way I can't take most of the credit for helping her earn her "wheels." My wife Elizabeth gets that honor. Of course, getting there hasn't been without a few challenges to overcome. One being, her proclivity for driving a little too close to the right side of the road. How she managed not to take out every mail box on the street at some point this last year I'll never know. Then there was what I'll call the "Little Old Lady" period where she adamantly refused to drive faster than 45 mph, even on a highway posted 65. And finally, there was the trauma of parallel parking. My front lawn still bears the scars of that very emotional, tearful session. "I can't do this daddy!" "Yes, you can." "No, I can't! I'll just fail this part!" "No, we've only been doing this for three hours. Just a few more tries sweetie. Now let's pull back on the driveway and try it one more time."

It struck me as I was working with her to learn the rules of the road that all of these traffic skills, these do's and don'ts we are trying to ingrain in her, are not only for her own protection, but for the protection of everyone else on the highway. As her father, I'm insistent that she learn these rules, not because I want to make her life difficult; but because, one, I love her and don't ever want to lose her, and two, I would never want her to be responsible for hurting someone else.

There's a hymn we sang with the kids when they were little that went like this:

"Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty , Teach me faith and duty.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
"

Our loving Father has given us His words, His commandments, His wonderful words of life, not that they might be a burden to us, not to make our life more difficult; but because, one, He loves us and He doesn't want to lose us to the Destroyer, and two, He doesn't want us to be a tool in the hand of the Destroyer to hurt others.

There is no shortage of those in this world who claim the name of Christ while flaunting the "rules of the road" He so lovingly gave us for our safety. They are like spiritual drunks careening recklessly down the highway, intoxicated by false confidence and "feel good" spirituality, oblivious to the danger in which they are putting themselves and others. These spiritual drunkards not only deceive themselves into thinking they are "safe" but risk the disillusionment of many who look to their example to learn what it means to be a follower of Christ.

In Matthew 7 Jesus instructs us to "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

If I'm reading this right, there are a lot of spiritual drunkards on the roads out there. Thankfully, there is another route for those of us who want to make it safely to our destination. It's not the easiest road to travel. There are a few rules of the highway we have to follow. But, I'd much rather take my chances travelling that road under the guiding hand of a loving Father, than risk crashing and burning on a superhighway to destruction, wouldn't you?

I couldn't be more proud of my daughter. Though my lawn will never be the same, she did finally conquer parallel parking and, all of the mailboxes on our road are still standing. She even manages to get the car up to 65 mph when she needs to. She's going to be a great driver. Though her formal road instruction is over, she hasn't heard the last of her dad providing pointers for staying safe on the roads. After all, that's just what a loving father does, right? We won't be revisiting the parallel parking thing though. Don't tell her this, but I never was much good at it myself.