Whenever I am out driving, and especially when I’m on a two-lane road where I am meeting oncoming traffic from the opposite direction in the lane right next to me, ... the fact is never lost on me that with the simple flick of my wheel, I could steer my car into the oncoming traffic and do a lot of damage, which would most likely include ending my own life.

That may sound morbid to some of you, and others might wonder if I have ‘suicidal tendencies’, which I don’t. But it really is a sobering thought to think of how we have this ‘freedom’ to drive these big pieces of steel up and down the road, and the fact that our own actions (or inactions) can have devastating consequences truly marvels me. Does this ever cross anyone else’s mind as well?

I only bring this up because the more I study and write and post here, the more I clearly see how this ‘abiding in Jesus’ life ...is very much like driving a car in all kinds of conditions, and the importance of staying focused on what one is doing, along with ‘staying in your lane’ cannot be stressed enough. And while those sobering random thoughts may cross my mind, I can assure you I am never tempted, nor do I have hidden desires...to want to veer off into those other lanes and ‘play chicken’ with 18-wheelers to see how close I can come to escaping death; ever!

Now that is not to say that I don’t have moments when I get ‘distracted’ or find my ‘car drifting’ ...and then I will make the immediate correction when I realize ‘how close I came’ to ‘crossing a line’. But I don’t make a habit of swerving in and out of oncoming traffic because I’m ‘bored’ or want to see how much I can ‘get away with’. Yeah...I’m sure some folks get an adrenaline rush in playing such games, but there is some benefits that come with growing ‘older and wiser’.

Can I just tell you that for those who claim to be ‘Christian’, yet like living on the ‘edge’ and ‘flirting with boundaries’ to see how close they can get to the line without crossing over, or suffering consequences if they do...are most likely not...’abiding in Jesus’. And friends...if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it multiple times here: Many of us have fallen short in our understanding as to what it means to truly ‘abide in Him’. The very word ‘abide’ literally means ‘to remain’. Abiding is not ‘seasonal’ or ‘conditional’ (as in if/when we feel like it). Abiding means... this is a way of life and if we want to be assured of being protected by God and being fruitful, which is the only way we can ‘glorify the Father’ (John 15:8), then remaining ‘In Him’ is essential, as in ‘not an option’. Period.

If you have affections and desires for other things that would cause you to ‘change lanes’ from time to time, you have no idea as to what kind of danger you are in and/or are flirting with. I think this was the underlying message in that lesson Jesus taught, which we looked at last week that is found in Luke 13:1-5. You may have escaped serious consequences in times past, thus far, when you ‘drifted and sinned’; but make no mistake about it: His message was clear in that lesson that those who did meet tragic endings were ‘no worse sinners’ than anyone else, and we too...will ‘likewise perish’ if we don’t ‘repent’ and ‘stay in our lane’.

So as we continue on in our study of Ps. 91 – the underlying condition to being the recipient of those promises of divine protection are clear: We MUST...be ‘dwelling, abiding, and remaining’ in His presence. There is something to be said about teaching new, young drivers ( and ‘converts’) to have a ‘healthy fear’ of getting behind that wheel every time they take to the road. And we know that it is the ‘fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom’ (Prov. 9:10).

What was God’s assessment of His people pointing out what was lacking, according to what Paul wrote in Rom. 3:17-18? And who is the promise of deliverance and protection made to in Ps. 34:7? Since the ‘fear of the Lord is the beginning of ‘knowledge’ (Pr. 1:7) and God’s people are ...destroyed for a lack of it (knowledge- Hosea 4:6), then maybe we’ve been missing out on some solid teaching on the subject of what it means to ‘fear the Lord’. (Ps.34:11)

In closing for today, hold a place there in Proverbs 1 while looking at Psalm 91:3-10. When we read about being protected from all those ‘terrors by night’ and ‘arrows, pestilences, destructions and plagues’...while ‘a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand’ (7) ...we are assured it “will not come near you”...as long as you are ‘dwelling, remaining, and abiding’ in that secret place of the Most High. Verse 9 stresses this point once again. And as we leave Ps. 91, keep in mind that picture given in vs 4 how He ‘covers us with His ‘feathers and wings’. Do you recall the word picture Jesus used in Matt. 23:37 when He lamented over Jerusalem, knowing what was coming their way in the not too far off future? He wanted to ‘gather His people like a hen gather’s her chicks under her wings...but they were not.... willing”.

Please finish up with reading Proverbs 1, now, vs. 24-33. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow, Lord willing.