Recently, I was driving on I-75 North when I came upon an 18-wheeler that was slowly weaving back and forth between the slow lane and the shoulder of the road. This driver was either dozing at the wheel, texting, or intoxicated. When I saw an opportunity, I immediately began to dart around this big rig. I couldn’t see the driver from my vantage point as I was passing, but I noticed on the door of the cab that the name of the transportation company had the word “Church” in it!
It struck me as odd that this truck driver, who was a representative of a transportation company whose name had the word “Church” in it, was putting the motoring public in danger and subjecting the company he or she represented to unnecessary liability. Knowing a little bit about DOT regulations, I am of the opinion that there are way too many commercial drivers who do not see themselves as an ambassador for their company; they have failed to understand that their driving is a reflection on the company they worked for!
Taking short cuts, falsifying driver logbooks, making money by any means necessary only puts people’s lives on the road at risk and subjecting the financial stability of the company which its employees depend upon to make a living to preventable litigation; this is nothing but self-centered behavior and evil. It is a violation, legally and morally. I knew of drivers who hated the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) regulations because it prevented them from making “good money.” I would ask such a person, “Why are you a driver then?”
It
is ironic that by volunteering to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL), they
are “willfully” submitting to the authority of DOT regulations! Drivers with a
bad attitude toward DOT regs do not serve the company’s best interests or the
motoring public. I have often told drivers that if you have any animosity
toward DOT regs, “My advice is
for you to quit driving and find yourself another profession.”
Such drivers with this kind of mentality mistakenly think that they are smarter than everyone else and can work the system to their advantage by rationalizing that they have to “earn a living.” Earning a living legally and morally is fine, but going beyond those parameters of legality and morality is a weaselly attitude that poses a threat to the motoring public, which my family and yours is a part of, and the welfare of the driver’s company and employees.
I knew some very professional drivers in my time and appreciated their caliber of character and conduct in and out of the rig, but there were those who did not take their role seriously enough in treating their employment as more than a job; there was a lot riding on every dispatch. As believers, we carry the name of Christ, and yet, so many seem unconcerned about their responsibility as an ambassador of Christ in the world.
We see this by the careless weaving in and out of the way of biblical truth or cherry-picking the Scriptures and disregarding that which does not fit into their narrative as irrelevant (contrast 2 Tim 3:16-17) while others are watching or interacting. This does not promote the kingdom and only hurts the cause of Christ to an already hostile world in opposition to Jesus Christ and anyone or anything related to Him. To the world, we are no more than self-righteous hypocrites! If the world thinks highly of us, we got a spiritual problem!
In such a case, the talk is not matching the walk, and no one is kicking up much of a fuss over it. Hypocrisy has come out of the closet unashamedly with a new normal, “It is what it is,” and we remain silent for fear of being accused of judging!
Judges 21:25 is not heaven’s standards by any stretch of the imagination if you are a genuine believer. Once we are spiritually regenerated, we fall under the authority of Yahweh and His Word which is the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Wanting to go to heaven and live like the devil down here is impossible! There is no circumventing the system. Unlike the FMCSA, God is all-knowing!
If you say anything to the defiant deviator, the judge-me-not card emerges, which is pulled out of context anyway! The Scriptures condemn hypocritical judging (Mt 7:1-5), not righteous judging (cf. Jn 7:24). You would think that would be a no-brainer among believers who think like that, but those who play the fool never seem to get it (cf. Prov 9:8). They would rather adhere to the world’s misinterpretation of the Matthew passage.
Why do believers continue to disregard their position in Christ and continue to weave in and out of the path of righteousness? Because the Word of God is not their sole source of authority; they are (cf. Jdg 21:25). Submitting to the authority of Yahweh or submitting to His Word is one and the same. That Judges 21:25 mindset is a renegade that refuses to follow the path of Josh 1:7-9 or a Psalm 1:1-2. As a result, he or she loses out on the blessings of biblical success found in Josh 1:8 and Psa 1:3!
How important is the Word to every believer? Well, 2 Tim 3:16-17 answers that, yes? Apart from the Holy Spirit we can do nothing; being out of alignment with the Word, we cannot be spiritually pleasing to God. The importance of doing it like God said, being all in, and seizing the promises are illustrated by Yahweh’s words to Joshua prior to the conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua was given cautionary advice, instructions, and encouragement. I only want to lightly touch upon a couple of things here for there is too much to unpack in this passage for our purposes without going multiple parts.
Those people remaining after nearly forty years of wandering in the wilderness with Moses was acutely aware of the costs of disobedience; many died in the desert from refusing to enter the Promised Land. Now they are on the verge of crossing over the Jordan from the east side after forty long and grueling years. They were all too familiar with the cost of disobedience to Yahweh and that refusing to cross over when it was time only would lead to unmitigated disaster as they had experienced in the past four decades in the barren wilderness with the older generation. The initial assessment report by 10 of the spies basically said, “We can’t do this.” Caleb and Joshua contended, “We can do this!” There was an enormous rift generated by the report. Read the words of Joshua and Caleb to the people,
(Num
14:6) But
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among
those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
(Num
14:7) and
they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: The land we passed through to spy out is
an exceedingly good land.
(Num
14:8) If
the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to
us, a land which flows with milk and honey.
(Num 14:9) Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.
17%
of the spies were for going in and taking the land! The people were moved and
very responsive to Joshua and Caleb,
Now, back at the river Jordan forty years later, Joshua is approached by Yahweh and is receiving his marching orders (Josh 1:1-9). Let’s take a brief look at what Yahweh said to Joshua in v7-9,
(Jos
1:7) Only
be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do
according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not
turn from it to the right hand or to the left [No weaving! God is the
standard, and we are not to deviate from Him. Sin is falling short of that
standard (cf Jos 23:6; 2 Kgs 22:2; Prov 4:27)], that you may prosper wherever you go. There is no positive prosperity
in deviation, my friends!
(Jos
1:8) This
Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate (literally, chewing the cud) in it day and night, that you may observe
to do according to all that is written in it. For then
you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Weaving in
and out of the way is the result of not doing any of this!
(Jos 1:9) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go (my how sinful perceived absence of God plagues our minds, cf. Heb 13:5).
I
cannot press the analogy of this driver weaving on the freeway with going on
and off the path of righteousness too far, but you get the idea, yes? Weaving
doesn’t lead to blessings at all, only to dodging bullets or getting hit by one
for being stupid! Maybe grogginess or dozing plays more into weaving,
spiritually speaking, than we may think?
Paul in 1 Thes 5:6-8 calls to mind that our lifestyle should be consistent with our exalted position as sons of light and sons of the day, not as those alienated from God (1 Thes 5:5).
(1Th
5:6) Therefore
let us not sleep [spiritual lethargy and insensitivity, sleeping in spiritual
indifference and comfort], as others do, but let us watch and be sober. As one commentator said,
watch against temptation, laziness, lethargy, and distraction which would
include watching for the Lord’s return (BBC). We should not be sleeping on the
job but rather exercising self-control as we are watching diligently.
(1Th
5:7) For
those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night [sons of darkness, cf.
Jn 3:19].
(1Th 5:8) But let us who are of the day [us] be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation [cf. 1 Jn 1:7].
The idea here in v8 is for all believers to “arm themselves for action with self-control” (BKC) by wearing their PPEs (personal protective equipment) in order for our lifestyle to be on par with our position in Christ. Recall 1 Cor 13:13 and 1 Thes 1:3 concerning faith, hope, and love; these elements should be salient features in our character. One other thing, this phrase, putting on, is in the aorist tense here; the idea is that we are not to take the breastplate and helmet off lest we lose our protective covering, not salvation (cf. Eph 6:11-17)!
If you got your CDL (Christian Driver’s License, through faith in Jesus Christ), you are now under the authority of Yahweh; He owns us lock, stock, and barrel and has a say in everything we think, say, or do. I think being a slave (Gk., doulos) to God is better than a slave to sin, yes? The prospects of heaven is far better than hell, right?
Whether
you realize it or not, whether you like it or not, we are to glorify Him
through our thoughts, words, and deeds. You cannot fight Him, circumvent Him,
nor win against omnipotence! We are God’s representatives on earth and people
are watching us on how we perform on the road of life. Weaving in and out of
the way is not pleasing to God; it never has been. Why did you become a
Christian if you like to dabble in the realm of darkness?
Yahweh
promised Joshua this,
Every place
that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses
(Josh 1:3).
In light of 1 Cor 6:20, every place that the soles of our feet tread, should be for the glory of God, yes? That kind of two-spy spirit would cut out the weaving. In the Spirit, we can do God’s will; you just got to have the want to (will)!
There are only two reasons for weaving in and out of the way. You are either disobedient or you are pretending to know the Lord. Spiritually weaving as a believer tells those who know the Lord that our lifestyle is not up to snuff with our exalted position in Christ. This is not a place of blessing or of true happiness. <><
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed (Rom 13:11).
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