Road signs on Life’s Highway

“And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” Isaiah 35:8

My husband and I are in that “close-to empty-nesters” phase in life when we seem to be doing a lot of driving. Three of our five children chose to go to a wonderful Bible college in Wisconsin, and we live in Pennsylvania. Which is 14-15 hours away! So, we drive to Wisconsin at least 3 times a year: taking them to college, picking them up, or just visiting. Also, my Father-in-law lives in South Carolina (about 11 hours away), and we seem to be making more and more visits down there as his age progresses and his health regresses. Since we have been spending a lot of time on the road, I have been noticing the road signs. And since I spend a lot of time just sitting in the car (my husband likes to do most of the driving), I do a lot of pondering, and I have come up with some spiritual applications for the road signs I have seen. I hope you find it interesting…

ONE WAY –This sign means that the road only goes one way, and it is in our best interest to go in the direction the arrow is pointing, in fact, there is great danger in going the wrong way on a one way street. The Bible is clear that there is only ONE WAY to heaven, and that is through believing in the Lord Jesus and accepting the free gift of salvation He offers to anyone who believes by faith in God’s Word (John 3:16, 14:6). It is in our best interest to accept the gift He offers, and there is great danger of perishing in a horrific place called Hell if you don’t, so if you haven’t already, I pray that you will choose Jesus: the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

CONSTRUCTION WORK AHEAD –When we see this sign by the road, it usually means that you had better prepare to have some patience, and expect some inconveniences. Salvation is only the beginning of our walk with the Lord, it should come with a warning: “CONSTRUCTION WORK AHEAD”!! God will keep working on us, and changing us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29) until we step into His presence in Glory, when we are finally made perfect and incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). It will take patience on our part and on the LORD’s (I am ever thankful for His patience with me), and there will be some inconvenience as we learn and grow in this process of changing and maturing in Christ.

NO U-TURNS – This is the sign that many people ignore, especially if there is something attractive on the other side of the street. Once we have decided to follow Jesus, we should not turn back to our old ways (Luke 9:62), our flesh naturally defaults to our old habits, but if we want to be fruitful and useful to the Lord, we need to remember that He says: NO U-TURNS!!

 

YIELD–This sign means that we do not have the right of way, and so we have to wait and let someone else have the priority. Paul tells us to yield ourselves to God and His righteousness, and not yield to unrighteousness and sin (Romans 6:13). Once we are saved, the Lord Jesus should have the preeminence in our lives and oftentimes we need to wait on Him, and must daily give over the reins of our hearts to His control,, trusting in His sovereignty, because He knows what is best, and His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30).

STOP—This is pretty self-explanatory, it means STOP –we have a joke in our family that you don’t have to stop at the signs that have a white line around them (they all do!). We tend to see them as a suggestion to slow down, and look to see if anyone is watching, but then go ahead anyway (a rolling stop). Here are just a few of the things God tells His people to STOP doing: STOP lying (Ephesians 5:25); STOP talking trash (Ephesians 5:29); STOP grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:30); STOP being selfish (Philippians 2:3); STOP worrying (Philippians 4:6); STOP Loving the world and it’s allure (1 John 2:15); and STOP acting like heathens (Ephesians 4:17). We have a tendency to think that these are only suggestions, we can check to make sure no one is watching before we do it anyway. Don’t deceive yourself – God sees everything! There will be a harvest of what we have sown (Galatians 6:7). You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequences of your choice.

DO NOT ENTER/WRONG WAY—This sign is a warning not to go down this road, it is perilous, and it would be much better for us not to enter. Well, there are some things God tells us to stay away from, or flee: fornication –any sex outside of marriage as God defines marriage (1 Corinthians 6:18); idolatry –making anything a priority over the Lord (1Cor 10:14); youthful lusts –giving in to immature, sensual urges (2 Tim 2:22); covetousness; and the love of money (1 Tim 6:10,11). It is the WRONG WAY for a Christian, and it is much better for us not to go down those roads!

And, last but not least, my personal favorite…

REST AREA AHEAD—This sign promises that up ahead soon is a place where you can stop the stress of driving for a few minutes and have peace, refreshment, and enjoy fellowship with other travelers. I don’t know about you, but there have been times when I have LONGED to see that blue “REST AREA” sign, because I need to use the restroom so bad (it gets worse the older I get!). It is always such a relief (no pun intended!) when we finally get to the rest area. You know, God promises us a final resting place in heaven when our pilgrimage on this earth is done(Hebrews 4:9-11), and it is ETERNAL – FOREVER! Sometimes when things on this earth get bad I have LONGED to get to those pearly gates and find rest and relief from this world and all its troubles. One day, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you will have peace, refreshment, and a glorious reunion with those believers who have gone on ahead in the place called Heaven that He has prepared for us (John 14:1,2).

I hope you have enjoyed these “Road signs on Life’s Highway”

~Graced and Grateful Grammy

The signs along life’s highway keep you going in the right direction.