Have you heard this statement? Recently while watching television this statement was made, “They need to stay in their lane.” Many thoughts and lessons can be made from staying in our own lane. Have you ever been driving on a four lane highway and someone was driving slow and then decided to get into your lane? Did you say anything? Do you give them a stare or look real harsh at them when passing? Have you had anyone drive hazardously and you wanted them to stay in a lane and drive that way? When driving on the interstate and all the lanes become congested, were their folks changing lanes, striving for a position? Did you want them to stay in their lane?
The Bible says, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:1). When the Wise man said, “Keep thy foot” he is talking about staying in the correct lane. We are to keep in the correct lane especially when we are going into the house of God. There are many lessons that we can derive from staying in the correct lane. Let us notice some of them.
First, we need to find our lane. Some seem to have a hard time finding the correct lane. Do you look to see it the tag is a local tag or not? If it is not a local tag do you give them more of a lea way than if they are local? When driving on the interstate and looking for an exit, do you get in the correct lane as soon as you can or do you wait until the last second and then go from the left lane to the right lane to exit? We have seen this so many times in Tennessee we call them “Tennessee turns.” In our lives we need to find the correct lane. In our homes we need to find the correct lane. The husband is to be the head of the house (Ephesians 5:23). Are the wives getting into the lane of the husband? Are the husband’s letting them over to be the head of the house because he does not want to? Is the wife so head strong that she usurps the authority of the husband? You see we have a lane in the household and we are to stay in it.
Additionally, some have a problem knowing who is in authority in the home. Is it the child or the parent? Today it seems that the children rule the home. Peace is the desire and maintaining that peace is to be obtained at all cost. The child is not to be upset. If the child does not want to take a bath what happens? The child beings to get upset and throw a tantrum what happen next in the home tells if the mother or father are in the correct lane, or if the child is in the wrong lane. If the child wins, no one is in the correct lane! We must all be in the correct lane to be pleasing to God.
Also, who is to have charge of the spiritual training in the home? This may really show that we do not know which lane the father or the mother is to be in. The Bible says, “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1). The father is to be the spiritual leader of the house. One wonders on Sunday morning who is taking the lead at getting the rest of the house prepared for worship? Who is making sure that everyone is up at the proper time to make it to worship in time? Who is making sure that the Bible lessons are done even before Sunday? (The same could be applied to Wednesday evening Bible study as well). Many times it may not be the proper person; we might have changed lanes and let the mother take charge, when she is not to be in that lane at all, it is the father’s responsibility. Let us stay in the proper lane!
Secondly, in the church are we in the correct lane? The Bible says, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:8). Is the woman the “pastor” or preacher, elder, or a deacon? If so she is in the wrong lane. There are things in the church that she can and must do, but she must stay in the proper lane. She is to sing and pray, she is even to teach when she takes the Lord’s Supper, but this is to be done in silence. She is to give. These are the proper lane for her and she cannot go outside that lane and still be pleasing to God. It would not be true worship.
Are we staying in the proper lane about church leadership? Do we “obey them that have the rule over us” (Hebrews 13:7, 17)? Some seem to have a problem submitting to that authority. They do not want anyone telling them what they can and cannot do. When this happens someone is in the wrong lane! This person is in the wrong lane about the authority of God and the submission to that authority. Someone needs to get back into the proper lane.
Thirdly, we need to stay in the proper lane when it comes to continuing our Christianity. We all sin (Romans 3:9, 23). So what do we need to maintain our lane position with God? Let us think of the person who has already gotten on the interstate. Yes, there is a proper way to get onto the interstate; many have forgotten the proper way. Just as there is a proper way to enter the interstate there is a proper way to enter the church. Now once we are in the church there is a proper way to maintain our way. We must remain in contact with the Blood of Christ. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). What will it take for us to get into the proper lane and maintain that proper lane? We must maintain the proper relationship to the Blood of Christ. Let us stay and maintain in the proper lane.
Love, Keith
