Short Cuts

Tonight I was driving from Pikesville to White Marsh at 5:30pm in the rain (all you Baltimore people know where this is going) and there was bumper to bumper traffic. Being the versatile man that I am I quickly consulted my map and found a "short cut" around the traffic. As I pulled off the beltway I thought to myself, "those simple minded fools... if only they knew MY short cut."

Well, as the traffic backed up at the 3rd light I realized that my short cut was not so short. I don't know what it is but I often look for short cuts when I am driving. I think it's a guy thing. We feel manly and like we've "gotten over" on the rest of the ingnorant masses of people going the "normal" way if we drive some other route that we think is faster. This is one of those topics than men discuss and swear that they've found the fastest way from point A to point B.

As I was sitting in the traffic of my short cut it caused me to think about life. There are no short cuts in life either. Yes, many of us try but it never ends up being shorter. Men and women want the rights (sexual intimacy) of marriage without the responsibility. We want money but don't want to work. People continue to look for short cuts in life but there aren't any. There is only the long hard road. If you want a good marriage you have to spend time daily with your spouse. If you want to raise your kids to follow Christ, you have to read the Bible to them regularly. Life takes work. I think part of our sinful nature is that we look for the easy way out. But there is none. However, I do believe that there is satisfaction in working hard and not taking those tempting short cuts.

Well, if you are wondering how the story ends... about 15 minutes wasted later I pulled back onto the beltway and arrived at my destination. Honestly, it was kind of a revelation that I could get back on my original course. I guess I thought at first that because I took the supposed short cut I should stay on that course all the way through. That's also true with life. If you've attempted to make life work with short cuts the good news is you can get back on course.

I want to challenge you to take the long hard road if you are sitting around looking for a short cut. I want to encourage you that if you have attempted to take a short cut through life, the good news is that you can repent by getting back on the right course.