All you are is in my way

By: carole l. haines

My husband and I went out for what we thought would be a refreshing twilight drive.  Windows down, through the woods, it was easy-breezy.  But then, others cars started to show up behind us.  Now we were going the speed limit, 3 miles over, actually. But these drivers tailgated us, one after another, passing us up, crossing solid lines.  One, especially rude driver, passed us on the right, practically knocking us into oncoming traffic.  We were both pretty miffed and couldn’t wait to get back home.  Don’t you just hate that? When people treat you like, “All you are is in my way!”  There’s an exhaustive list of what people will be like and times winds slowly down to the coming of Christ. Here’s just a few off the list:
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good.       (2 Timothy 3:2 NASB)
I personally think that “rude, discourteous, and dangerous drivers,” should be added to the list. Perhaps it’s just me, but courtesy is a dying art, a dying grace.  In a world where it is so desperately needed, grace is hard to find.  God’s word describes how to walk in humility and grace. But we must also remember, that at one time, we used to be somewhat like those rude drivers.  I know I did, and still am at times.  Look at Titus 3 below:

 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, ² to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. ³ For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. (Titus 3:1-3 NASB)

God rescued me from this domain of darkness, and transferred me to His Kingdom of Light.  Only Christ can transform a life as radically as that.  No “self-improvement” guru, can deliver you from the sin inside you, and transform you into a new creature. Only Christ can do this.  We are incapable of such soul-deep transformation.  But thanks be to God, who sent Jesus, our Savior.  I think it is only as remember how I used to be, that I can pray for and forgive the rudeness of other drivers on the road. God shows me the practical way out of such an attitude in myself.  ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 NASB)

Thanks to Jesus, I have come a long way, but even recently, I have had to repent of such attitudes in myself.  I have had to send emails, make phone calls, seeking forgiveness from those I have wronged.  I must keep my own heart in check, and make sure I am not ever treating another human being like, “All you are is in my way.”