Michigan Drivers Cannot Be Trusted

Michigan drivers cannot be trusted!  

At least that’s the way we felt when Becky and I found out we were required to take a written test to get an Illinois Driver’s License. 

“Come on, I’ve been driving for over 40 years.  I’ve only lived in Michigan for 9 years…trust me, the driving laws aren’t that different.”  (One major difference,  however is that in the Chicago area you are dodging pedestrian traffic.  In Northern Michigan you are constantly dodging wildlife of all kinds!)  Jesse White’s employees were not very sympathetic.  We had to take a written test.

             
We didn’t have all the proper paperwork with us on our first visit, so we had to come back another day.  We took two of the Illinois Rules of the Road booklets with us. 

             
 I will confess that regardless how unnecessary I thought this test was for me, the requirement to take it planted seeds of doubt and uncertainty.  Studying the book didn’t boost my confidence.  Pages and pages of rules and regulations, many of them dealing with procedures at the scene of an accident, the number of people under age 18 a new driver can have as passengers, the penalty for driving while intoxicated.  In my mind, none of this was relevant for me. 

            
 How many feet before making a turn are you required to turn on your turn signal?  100 feet, 300 feet, or 500 feet?

            
 If your front tire goes off the road what should you do?  Stop, grip the wheel tightly, reduce speed and return to the road?  Close your eyes and pray?  (In Northern Michigan you just keep going off road and create a two track shortcut with  your four wheel drive vehicle!)

           
As a 40 year driving veteran, I feel like I know what I am doing behind he wheel.  I have had no accidents and no tickets.  But in reading the book, I found that my “common knowledge” and “common sense” didn’t always match the “Rules of the Road”.  The book recommended things that I don’t practice, and I thought were unnecessary.   In a few instances I do what makes sense to me and what I have always done, regardless of the book.

           
That’s not the only place that happens in life.  Many of the decisions we make, the values we adopt, the priorities we set, are our own adaptations from our guidebook (the Bible).  We have adopted practices and principles that seem to work for us,  and that appear to be harming no one else, but when we study the word and come to grips with what God really says, we find that we have been mistaken, and off course. 

             
My driving would be better and safer for everyone if I went by the book.  Our lives are more fulfilling, meaningful and productive, when we follow The Book!

            
This week in worship we will continue our journey in the Sermon on the Mount.  My lesson will be from Matthew 5:17-20.  Jesus came not to do away with the law, but to fulfill the law.

             
Looking forward to seeing you in worship.

            
 God bless,

 Rev