Driving in the Middle of Your Lane

When I was learning to drive with my learner's permit in High School I drove almost exclusively with my mother.  To my knowledge this was also the case with both of my brothers.  I've always found this strange because my mom is usually the more high strung of our parents.  My dad is just about the most mellow person I've ever met.  But not when we were in the car.  To this day I can count on my two hands the number of times that I've driven with my father in the car.  My dad was such a tense driving teacher that it was way easier to learn with my mom in the passenger seat.

But I clearly remember one piece of advice that my father gave me when we were driving together.  He said, "It's really easy to ride the lines.  You can hug the left, you can ride to the right, but a good driver stays in the middle of his lane."

I still think about this when driving, especially when I'm on a narrow patch of multi-lane highway.  I have to admit though, it wasn't until recently that I made a spiritual connection to the advice that my father gave me.

On the road if you drive off to the left, you are in for a serious rude awakening hitting another car head on.  If you veer off to the right you will likely hit a tree.  On a multi-lane highway you might hit a pylon or a mack truck if you don't stay in your lane.  The same principal applies to our spiritual lives.  The bible says in Matthew 7:13-14 that the road that leads to life is a narrow one and that straying on the wide road leads to destruction.

I'm not saying that staying in your lane prevents all accidents, because there might be debris in the road and sometimes someone else will swerve into your lane.  Both can cause a serious crash, but when you stay in your lane you are a lot better off.  Again, the same principal applies to our spiritual lives.  When you follow the narrow road that God directs all of us on you might encounter things that trip you up.  Sometimes issues from other people's lives will crash into your own.  But again, those things are less likely to happen when you follow the path on which God has directed you.

It is worth noting that it is harder to stay in the middle of your lane.  It's easy to hug the lines on the left or the right, but anything worth doing is worth doing well.  So I encourage you today to watch out for potholes and debris, keep an eye out for other drivers, and stay on the straight and narrow.