Imagine you’re driving down the road and you come across a highway painted like this. You have no idea where to go, and you’re pretty sure neither do the other drivers.
Every day we engage in a dangerous, life-threatening activity. We strap ourselves into 3,500 pound machines that scream down thin ribbons of asphalt at deadly speed. We do this within just a couple of feet of other lethal machines also moving at breakneck speed. Yet we do this with complete comfort and confidence. We casually eat lunch, listen to music, talk to passengers, or even converse on the phone while we are hurling down these asphalt tendrils of death. Are we stupid? Do we have some sort of insane death wish? Why do we do this?
Because, if you look on the pavement, someone has painted white and yellow lines. These lines tell us where we can safely travel. We know that as long as we stay between those lines, and everyone else stays in their lines we can safely get to where we want to go. But if even one person strays from those lines, not only are their lives in danger, so is everyone around them.
Likewise, God has painted lines in life. There are moral principles, standards of right and wrong, and certain spiritual truths that mark out for us where we can safely travel in life. Nearly all of our problems occur when we, or someone near us strays from those lines.
This week we look at the story of Micah and the Danites. This story portrays the tragic outcome when everyone lives their lives as if they can paint their own lines wherever the want.