Stop! Look! Go!

(Message by Philip Joseph on 4th October, 2009.)

Our Lord often spoke in parables, which illustrated the truths He wanted to convey. His illustrations were taken from every-day occurrences, which easily registered in the minds of His hearers. Today I would like to convey a spiritual truth using an illustration of a traffic signal. As motorists we understand the traffic signal well, and since it is a part of our daily routine it’s easy to remember. There are three parts to a traffic signal : RED,AMBER & GREEN. The red signal indicates that we are to STOP! The amber indicates that we are to LOOK, while the green permits us to GO!

1. RED : STOP

The Bible exhorts us in I Corinthians 15:34 to stop sinning. We need to always stop at this red signal. As motorists, sometimes we get away crossing a red signal, but we can never get away from God! He always watches us unlike the cops who are not always there. If the cops notice us, we have to pay the fine. Worse still, we can end up in an accident which can damage our vehicle, injure us or even lose our life. Similarly we have to face the consequence of sinning. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7, that we reap whatever we sow. Whenever we sin & break God’s laws, we reap its consequences. Hence we must always be careful never to break God’s red signal. The Holy Spirit within our hearts always prompts us, whenever we are in danger of breaking this signal & we must always obey the promptings of the Spirit. In the Old Testament, we find that God gave His laws to the Israelites, but they often broke it. He gave them 10 commandments, the first four of which related to God & the last six related to their fellow-man. Often in Israel’s history, they forsook God & went after idols. They also practised the sins of the surrounding heathen nations, which resulted in judgement. In the book of Judges, we find that God allowed their enemies to triumph over them & whenever they repented, God sent them a deliverer or judge to lead them into victory. Similarly in the books of Samuel,Kings & Chronicles we see the same cycle of sin,judgement,repentance & deliverance spread over 2000 years. The Israelites boasted about their magnificent temple but God sent them prophet after prophet to warn them of their sin. Finally we know that God allowed the Babylonian army to invade Jerusalem and destroy the temple. Similarly we in the new covenant cannot take refuge merely in the fact that we are born again & are God’s special people on earth. We need to stop sinning & live a life of obedience to Him. Otherwise God will permit our enemies to triumph over us. However if we obey Him, we will remain under His covering & there is no power on earth or hell that can disrupt our lives.

2. AMBER : LOOK

While driving if we see an amber signal blinking, we need to drive carefully. If we see the signal change from green to amber, we have to use our judgement as to whether we can cross the signal before it changes to red. Similarly in our walk with the Lord, there is an amber signal sometimes. Romans 14 is a chapter devoted to amber. There are many issues in which the Lord gives us freedom to use our own judgement. There are some believers who like to celebrate special days or avoid certain foods, but Paul exhorts us in Romans 14:17, that the kingdom of God does not consist in these matters. There are many non-essential matters in which we need to give freedom to our spouse & our fellow-believers to have their own conviction. The Bible calls us to unity & not uniformity! We can agree to disagree on non-essentials! Some Christian groups are very particular that the preacher should wear white & not have any gold ornaments, but these are matters which are minor issues. We should not major on the minor issues! Some believers have a conviction of not taking medicines, but trust that that God will heal them. Others believe that God uses medicines too to heal us. Whatever is our personal conviction on such issues, we can have it before God (Romans 14:22) & strive to maintain peace & harmony with our fellow-believers who may have a diametrically opposite conviction.
There are many matters in which the Bible is totally silent. This too falls in the ambit of the amber zone. On all such matters we need to be cautious & use our own judgement & the promptings of our own conscience. The Scripture tells us of the “peace of God” (Colossians 3:15) that acts as an arbiter in our hearts in such cases. When God gives us a peace on the matter we can proceed or else we should stop. The amber changes either to green or red!

3. GREEN : GO

We can continue at whatever speed we are driving, whenever we see the green signal.
If our vehicle is stationary, we have full freedom to proceed whenever the signal changes to green.
The Scriptures exhort us to GO in the following matters :

a. Pray : In Matthew 6:6, our Lord instructs us to go to our inner room & pray. In the realm of prayer, the signal is always green! We can go to God at any time or place. We need to shut out every disturbance & pray to God in privacy. We also need to verbalise, so that we can hear what we are praying!

b. Reconcile : In Matthew 5:24, our Lord instructs us to go & be reconciled with our fellow-believers before presenting an offering to God. If possible, as far as it depends on us, we need to pursue peace with all people. (Romans 12:18). The signal is always green on the path of reconciliation! We need to aggressively pursue a harmonious relationship within our families, church & society at large.

c. Compassion : In Matthew 9:13, we are told to go & learn what it means to have compassion. Our Lord rebuked the religious leaders for their lack of compassion. He gave us the Great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) to love God & our fellow-man. He illustrated it with the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:30-37)

d. Commission : We all know of the Great commission to Go! (Matthew 28:19-20). Whenever we preach the gospel, make disciples, baptise or teach people we see a green signal. We need to go full speed ahead!


May the Lord help us to understand these signals so that we may know when to stop, look & go.