STOP!

Why do we wake up in the morning and go to bed in the evening every day? Why do we go to work and come home every day? Why do we eat three meals every day? The answer is that’s life. No one can refuse those daily activities persistently. Those who can are called the dead. Anyone who is alive cannot escape the daily routines.  

The next question then may be why we have to do repetitively and continually. Why can we take a real good meal once a week and sustain the rest of days? All things are the daily reminders and teachers for us to learn something. What is it? It keeps reminding us that we are limited and fragile. The Scripture says that we were formed out of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Since we are dust, we shall go back to dust (Genesis 3:19). We are made and designed that way.

Prophet Isaiah said so.

“A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. Isiah 40:6 NIV

James says the same thing.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 NIV

But it is not a curse but blessing and sanctification for humanity. In this way, God draws everyone to come unto Him and have eternal life in Him. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44 NIV) Although it is true that we are powerlessly bound and fragile in time and space, we humans can access to the throne of grace and have His life in full in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 2:2).

That limit and predicament in our humanity open the marvelous opportunities to learn what we really are and why we wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed, and wake up over and over again. Have you ever driven on highways without any stop and felt the need to stop for a moment? Yes, we need to stop and see what is really going on around us. If there are no challenges at all in life, then how can we learn what the excitements and enjoyments of life are?

That humdrum and routine things we face every day are the challenges, aren’t they? Was it okay to wake up this morning? Was it okay to drive for work? What about the people at work? Were they lovable and pleasurable? We have to face it though every day. That’s the STOP signs designed by the loving Father in heaven who cares for us like the dear children.

At a stop sign, we stop and look around and then go if clear. God puts the huge stop signs ahead of us down the road every day, so that we may not fall into the trap of eternal separation from God. Putting the stop signs is not the act of harshness but that of kindness and gentleness. We at times pay no attention to the stop signs either in ignorance or intention. Consequently, we shall pay the price for it, probably fines.

Our God is eternally long-suffering and enduring that He never ends posting the gentle and kind stop signs for us to come unto Him and have eternal life in the Son Jesus Christ the Lord (John 3:16). At each stop sign, we may stop and see Jesus Christ who endured the cross, scorning its shame, for the joy set before Him and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).