Keep your eyes open

The light at Parker and Country Club has come to symbolize my struggle with sin. I know it sounds silly but it is so true . Let me explain . Parker basically stops at that traffic light at Country Club. You can either turn right or left . The only restriction is a sign that says : No right turn on red Mon-Fri 7 a.m.- 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. The sign has always been there but I never paid attention to it. I saw that everyone turned right on red at all times so I assumed it wasn't enforced. It seemed a silly restriction anyway because you can see clearly. It honestly got to the point that I didn't even notice the sign anymore. So without a second thought I turned right on red whenever I wanted to until the day I got pulled over. I honestly wasn't sure why the Collin County Sheriff pulled me over that morning about 8:45 and when he told me it was for turning right on red during a restrictive time I almost said "but everybody does it" but it sounded so lame I held my tongue. As he wrote my ticket we watched car after car turn right on red. The $295 ticket changed my point of view and it was a good deterrent , the only problem was "everybody" didn't get that ticket so they continued to turn right on red whenever they wanted and they expected everyone else to ignore the sign as well. I now dread approaching that intersection before 9 because the pressure is on: I've been honked at frantically, I've had drivers throw up their arms in anger using somewhat obscene hand gestures, and I've had drivers scream expletives at me because I won't turn right on red before 9. I point to the sign to try and explain and I encourage them to go around me by waving my arm out the window wondering if those 3-5 minutes they will save is that important. But to tell the truth it is hard, I don't like to be screamed at or flipped off . I've even gone into the Lakeway Gas Station to avoid the red light confrontation. It is just a silly light but like I said it has come to symbolize my greatest struggles. My struggle with the need to be liked and not wanting anyone mad at me, my struggle to please others, the struggle to not conform to the world and become desensitized by believing something is okay because everyone does it, and the temptation to feel as if something questionable is okay if no one knows or sees you do it . (I've looked both ways to see if there was a Sheriff's car and thought about turning when there wasn't one in sight but the conviction of how wrong that was on so many levels stopped me . If I compromised in that instance I would be opening a window for Satan to get a foothold) This LIGHT has made me take a long look at my heart showing how blind and desensitized we can become to sin in our life . So I won't be turning right on red during the restrictive times no matter how great the temptation or the pressure from other drivers . I will stand firm in my convictions and beliefs knowing this little light has a much deeper meaning in my life PLUS on Thursday I noticed they had installed a "red light " camera. I might be wrong but I'm thinking its purpose is to catch the right turn offenders as well. No one can hide anymore and I'm thinking there may be many more tickets . The presence of the camera that sees everything reminded me how GOD sees everything we do and nothing is ever hidden from HIM. I want to live out Romans 12:1-2 , I want to live like that. 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1, 2 MSG)