Highway 75 runs north and south. In McKinney, Texas, there are 2 lanes on either side. As I was driving into work yesterday morning on 75 south, I saw the sign proclaiming, in bright yellow lit up letters, that the left lane was closed ahead. Being the conscientious driver that I am, I moseyed into the right lane. Many of my fellow commuters chose to stay in the left lane in the hopes of getting a little ahead of the crowd before that lane actually closed. I was behind an 18 wheeler, driving 23 mph, listening to the radio, when I heard honking. I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a big ole pick-up truck, driving in the middle of the 2 lanes. Obviously he saw the bright yellow sign too, and he was not about to let anyone else by. These were not just little taps on the horns, they were they long, blaring, “Get the heck out of my way!” blasts. These drivers weren’t just angry, they were downright mad. It made me laugh, and I turned the KSCS radio station up louder so as to drown out the honking, which went on until the left lane actually closed and the people behind us had no choice but to merge into the right lane.
I didn’t think much more about it until this morning as I was travelling to work. I’m on 75, going south, and yep, there’s the “Left Lane Closed Ahead” sign. I get into the right lane and I’ll be darn if the same thing doesn’t happen again! This time, the vehicle behind me driving in the middle of the 2 lanes was some kind of SUV. Honking ensued, to no avail. What are the chances of this happening 2 days in a row? Coincidence? Maybe. But I began thinking, which my husband tells me can sometimes be dangerous, but I indulge myself anyway. Ok, God, you don’t have to hit me upside the head, what are you trying to teach me? The 2 vehicles behind me were only trying to convince the drivers behind him to do what they were supposed to do and what was fair to others – merge into the right lane and wait your turn.
And there it is - Brenda's lesson for the day.
What those 2 drivers of righteousness didn’t consider was the fact that what they were doing wasn’t right either – is it illegal or just dangerous to drive in the middle of 2 lanes on the highway? Immediately my mind went to that verse in Matthew that asks, “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”
As I’ve mentioned before, I was raised in a very legalistic environment – home, church, Christian school. I remember when I was a teenager, there were a few old biddies (I can use this term because I’m old now) that seemed like they just waited for someone in the Youth Group to mess up so that they could go straight to our Youth Pastor and report them – whether the infraction was talking in church, holding hands with the opposite sex, girls wearing pants on the weekends – it didn’t really matter what the violation, it was the mission of these chosen few to point it out and make sure it was addressed.
I’m wondering how many times I have been guilty of doing this to others.
I was raised to think that standing in righteous judgment of others was a gift, a virtue, a right of the older and wiser generation. I'm older now, but does that necessarily mean I'm any more wise?
I’m struck with the realization that you can’t make people do what you think is right. In reality, why would we want to make anyone do anything they don't choose to do themselves? Don’t we have enough to worry about making sure we ourselves make the right choices? I know for me, it’s a full time job. Maybe I needed to be reminded of this, and because I can be a little hard-headed, God had to use a real life experience to reiterate this to me and get me back on track.
So, I’m left with Romans 12:3, which tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. This verse is what I’ll be focusing on today as I work.
My toes are already a little sore – good thing I’ve got a desk job.