The Highway Code can be difficult to obey at times. Does that make it unnecessary?
In this short series – Signs for our Times – we’re looking for signs, or indications that the Bible still has something to offer in 2021.
It’s easy to write the Bible off as ‘old’ and ‘irrelevant’, but stay with me for a minute or so…
In the UK the highway code has a variety of signs under a number of categories:
- Signs with red circles are mostly prohibitive.
- Red triangular signs give warning.
- Blue and white circular signs are mostly positive instruction and there are blue rectangular signs that give direction.
The Bible is very similar
There are warnings and things that are prohibited and there is also positive instruction and direction.
Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.
2 Timothy 3 v 16-17
That’s not to say that living according to its guidance is easy. Like following the Highway Code we’ll have challenges – we may not even agree with it all of the time. But if everything in “the scriptures” (the Bible) is “God’s Word” we can trust that rules are there for good reason.
Like every journey there are twists and turns, ups and downs and Jesus explained that following his way of life would not be “wide” and “easy”, but “narrow” and “hard”.
Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
Matthew 7 v 13-14
However, we are not without help
Faithful King David described God’s Word as being:
“..a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.”
Psalm 119 v 105
And the Bible can be the same for us, helping us to see clearly in a world that can often feel very dark.
Most road signs are quite brief: “STOP”; “GO”; “GIVE WAY”.
One of my favourite road signs is a little more involved. It’s the orange box junction grid. You rarely see the instruction in full on a sign but in the Highway Code it says, “You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear.”
Jesus has a similar message
And a different kind of box that we’d all like to avoid…
Baptism is symbolic of dying and being raised to life (as Jesus literally was) and is an essential part of demonstrating our commitment to following him.
When we were baptised, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptised, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.
Romans 6 v 4
For God (the creator of all things) death is no obstacle. He raised Jesus to life and He promises to do the same for us.
However, making that choice remains our responsibility – using the life we have now to learn and understand what God wants from us, with Jesus as an example and guide.
Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14 v 6
So let’s not enter the box (death) before we are sure our exit is clear.
Surrender to God! …Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t make up your mind.
James 4 v 7-8
The word “surrender” (“submit in some versions”) means ‘giving ourselves into the hands of another’. We only put ourselves fully into someone’s care when we trust them. And one blog post won’t convince you to do that. So I encourage you to study God’s Word the way you might study the Highway Code for a test.
Giving ourselves to God
We’ve shared a few examples of scripture here but there are so many more that, when put together, help us develop a genuine trust in this being we’ve never met, but can feel the presence of in our lives.
By giving ourselves to God we waive all power of our own and instead are guided by Him and learn to first consider God, then others, then ourselves.
The Highway Code can be difficult to obey at times.
Does that make it unnecessary?
The Highway Code was first published over 80 years ago.
Does that make it irrelevant?
The Highway Code helps keep you safe on the road.
The Bible could save your life.
Signs For Our Times, part 2: Road Map To The Kingdom
No one sets out on a journey without a purpose – somewhere to go. Neither would you expect the journey to be smooth without directions on how to get there. In part two we consider how the Bible can be a guides to us, no matter how lost we might feel…continue reading…
