Normally there are a few drivers that ignore road signals and are not courteous on the highways. Today was different. So many drivers changed lanes in front of oncoming vehicles without indicating. Others drove faster to prevent others from entering their lane. How accidents did not occur is beyond me. It’s extraordinary that so many need to be in the front of the queue, yet arrive at the destination only moments before those they blocked on the roads. But, I must add, the majority of drivers were courteous.
I arrived at the church, unlocked the security gate and put the lock onto the gate and locked it to prevent misplacing it. When I was ready to leave, I tried to unlock the lock … but to no success. The key entered the lock, but would not release the internal plungers to release the “U” section. I had some WD 40 and gave the lock’s mechanism a good spray … but the lock refused to cooperate. For security purposes, the lock needed to be changed.
Sooner or later, it will happen! By this, I mean that those who behave badly on the roads will sooner or later find the treatment they dish out to others levelled back against them. That’s the principle of “what goes around comes around”. But we who follow the Master (The Lord Jesus Christ) need to and must behave differently in every aspect of life. Consider the following passage:
Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
This passage continues from verse 1 dealing with good behaviour. Directed by God’s Spirit, Paul wants believers to know that God is watching all our actions … all the time. Not only does he say, “Do not be deceived”, he goes on to say, “God cannot be mocked” before he speaks about sowing and reaping.
My point is that God is watching! The reaping and sowing is self-explanatory in verse 8. Those who please the sinful nature reap destruction (hell), and those who please the Spirit of God reap eternal life (heaven).
It’s dealing with doing things … investing in things … sowing … that effects eternity. And this encompasses everything, not just spiritual things. So think of the way one drives on the roads, the way one treats others or the way we relate to that which is around us … all this adds to the sowing. It’s not just sharing or not sharing the Gospel.
Now remember our Lord is watching … and He says, “Let us not become weary in doing good” and “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers”. Surely, the “doing good” must include the way we use the roads and the way we treat fellow motorists. See, the “all people” includes the four by four, the taxi, the truck, the young, the old, the male or the female driver … the people we know and don’t know! Have you ever considered that amongst the other motorists there are those who fall into the category of … “especially to those who belong to the family of believers”? There are times we might want revenge … yet the same Holy Spirit directs Paul to write:
2Th 1:5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Our general behaviour and attitude submits to the Lordship of Jesus (v7 and the “He” of v8) because we live within His Kingdom (v5). God will deal with those who trouble His people, and He will sustain us where necessary. Therefore, why seek revenge when there is a real hell … “punished with everlasting destruction”? Rather, our focus ought to be on “the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power”. There is a real heaven, and the only way to get out of the clutches of a real hell into a real heaven is through the Gospel of the Kingdom.
May I suggest two things? First, a godly lifestyle ought to go much further than our behaviour. It ought to drive the Gospel within us to the point where we share it with lost souls, irrespective who they are and how they behave, so that they too might consider both the “Good News” and the “Bad News”. And once we have shared the Gospel, let’s back up what we have said with consistent prayer for those who have heard.
Second, once Jesus comes again and judges the believer and non-believer and casts the non-believer into everlasting destruction, they are not only shut out of God’s presence … but the lock that keeps the door shut will never, ever be unlocked!
Surely, every thinking person will consider the Gospel’s requirements in the light of eternity and every Christian ought to consider sharing the Gospel’s offer in the light of eternity.
Dear Loving Lord, graciously allow the Gospel to so influence my whole person that I live and behave in such a way that creates a platform for me to share Your Gospel with those You bring across my pathway. Amen.