The Double Yellow Line

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be able to be in ALC's morning service, where I heard Jeff Hennigan speak. During his sermon, he said that "The middle of the road is safe as long as there is no traffic." I have been thinking about this quote since I heard it, and I wanted to expand a few ideas which are based on it. The whole sermon can be found on the ALC podcast, which this site will direct you to.

I was driving back to College Station late Sunday night, only a few hours after hearing Jeff's words. The drive from Dallas to College Station is basically split into two main parts: the interstate drive on I-45 and the "dark country road" portion. As I drove down the dark 39 road, I started to veer onto the yellow line. I would soon realize my mistake, and correct it by turning the wheel to the right. Then after a few moments of apathy, I would find my truck straddling the yellow line once again. I did this a number of times, and I never ended up in a collision. I considered all those hours "wasted" in driving school and confidently thought, "Those instructors had no clue what they were talking about." Then a car whizzed by. And it all came back as to why I should stay on my side of the road.

This principle applies to my spiritual life as well. If I am living halfway for God, or straddling the yellow line, my life will be fine; right up until something bad happens. When life is good, it's easy to stray away from God and live as the flesh would choose, but when the valleys of life hit me head on, I am going to wish I had stayed on God's side of the road.

As I turned onto OSR, I had another thought concerning my driving habits. (By this time I was religiously staying on the right side.) If I were to get into a head on collision while in the middle of the road, the outcome would most likely be just as traumatic than if I had been completely in the left lane. So basically, driving down the middle has the same degree of danger as driving in wrong lane. This metaphor still holds true in my spiritual life. If I have a lukewarm relationship with God, it is not any better than completely forsaking him. I need to concentrate on keeping my relationship with God as healthy as possible, and to never stray away from him. And if I do stray, I need to jerk the steering wheel of my life back to the right, because even thought I may have veered only a few feet, the outcome could be catastrophic.

Jeff preached a great message, and this was only one point that he made on Sunday. If you weren't there, you should definetly go check out the podcast.

If you are looking for a church home, please give Abundant Life a try. We have services every Sunday at 9am and 11.15am.