“So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:24-25)
State law requires a motorists to pull over to the side of the road when being passed by a lights-on, sirens-blaring emergency vehicle.
The thing is, most of us recognize this as a standard requirement when driving. We learned it in Driver’s Ed, we memorized it for the written driver’s test, and we’ve seen it modeled by drivers every time an emergency vehicle approaches.
So why would there need to be a tougher, “we’ll ticket you” law to push drivers to the side of the road? Isn’t pulling aside for emergency vehicles ingrained in us?
It may have been ingrained at one time, but I’ve noticed over the past few years that many drivers seem reluctant or hesitant to pull over. Maybe we’re less concerned about following the law. Perhaps we’ve lost sight of the fact that emergency vehicles are responding to a critical, time-is-of-the-essence, lives-may-be-at-stake crisis situation.
Then again, maybe it’s because we’ve all gotten so busy and so self-absorbed in our own lives that we don’t want to be inconvenienced by slowing down, no matter what kind of emergency crosses our paths.
When it comes to pulling over to the side of the road, a rule that used to be “in our hearts” now requires a law, written on the books for all to see, in order to get everyone to comply.
As silly as that seems, God had to do the same thing. He never intended for us to live under the law; he designed us to live by his spirit. But because we refused to comply, God sent us legislation – starting with 10 commandments – to push us toward holy living.
It means, to echo the Apostle Paul, that the law is a
God wants you to operate in such a way that you no longer need legislation (or willpower, or guilt) to force you to follow the rules because the rules will now be written on your heart by the very hand of God.
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