Morning Devotional
October  23, 2005
"Red Lights"      
    by Don Emmitte

You don't pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. (Matthew 7:16b-18 NLT).

 

The following story was told as true. It is about a driving instructor who was giving three girls driving lessons. One of the girls did especially well, and then switched places with one of the girls in the back seat. After the second girl drove a few minutes the instructor noticed she wasn't using her turn signals properly. He said, "Before you make a turn, you need to let the people behind you know what you're going to do." Without missing a beat the young driver turned to the two girls in the back seat and said, "I'm going left at this next corner."

 

Another story emerged about a driving examiner giving a test to a young man who went through a red light without stopping during his road test. The examiner told him that he had automatically failed the test and to immediately return to the test center. On returning they met up with the young man's mother and the examiner explained what had happened. At first she was speechless. Then she asked incredulously, "He ran a red light?" "Yes," the examiner replied. "Well," persisted the mom, "how red was the light?"

 

In my work through the years with various ministry groups, I have often run into people who feel that way about God's principles. We have Ten Commandments that are pretty straightforward and about as simple as you can get. Yet, people rationalize their way around situations involving them every day. It's called situational ethics. We, as humans, find ways to rationalize and convince ourselves that we didn't really break a commandment. And, yes, I catch myself doing it too.

 

I had a friend who got in trouble with his wife because word got back to her that the guy had been having extended lunches with a female co-worker. How red was the light? At the very least it was yellow. The guy now faces a tough time working through this integrity issue and trying to reestablish trust with his wife. I've concluded that if we're careful not to run yellow lights, we're not likely to run red lights, no matter how red they are. That applies to life as well as driving.