While
waiting at a stop sign on a rural road in South Dakota, an old man on a moped leaned over to look into a Porsche stopped next to him. Admiringly, he told the driver how much he liked the sports car. So the Porsche driver thought he would show the old man how fast his car really was. When he took off from the stop sign, he floored it. However, looking back in his mirror, he saw the moped gaining on him. He thought it was strange since he was doing nearly 90 mph. Before long, the old man caught and passed the Porsche.
But the Porsche driver would have none of it, and so he promptly stepped on the gas and passed the moped once again, this time doing well over 140 mph. When the moped caught and passed him a second time, he was numb. He couldn’t believe it!
Unfortunately, this time the moped crashed into a ditch on the side of the road. The driver of the speedy car stopped to see if he could help the old man. He ran up to him and asked if there was anything he could do. The old man could barely get out a sound, yet he softly whispered in the other’s ear, “Could you please unhook my suspenders from your side mirror?”
We can sometimes smile at those living life in the fast lane. Many people today enjoy the thrill of living with reckless abandon with a devil-may-care attitude. Sometimes it may seem like a glamorous life, but for God’s people, there should be no such thing as reckless Christianity.
Jehu was a man who lived life on the edge, sometimes zealous for the Lord and sometimes at odds with God. His violent life was peppered with off-the-cuff actions that sometimes took little planning but had some serious results.
Jehu was the tenth king of Israel, serving in his younger years as bodyguard to Ahab. He was also an eyewitness to the murder of Naboth, the man who owned the vineyard Ahab coveted. Elisha anointed him while King Jehoram was still alive, and God chose Jehu to end the line of Ahab forever. Immediately after his anointing, Jehu tracked down Joram and killed the king with an arrow. Moments later, Jehu slew Ahaziah, king of Judah. As he entered the town of Jezreel, he saw Jezebel mocking him from an upper window, so he had her thrown down to a quick and bloody death. Next he sent word to the guardians of Ahab’s grandsons and had them quickly beheaded. Finally, pretending to serve Baal, Jehu called together all the prophets and worshipers of Baal in one place where he planned for 80 of his soldiers to surround the Baal worshipers and demolish the building with them inside. “And people have used it for a latrine to this day” (2 Kings 10:27).
Yet his recklessness did not always serve for good. We read of Jehu’s downfall: “Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit” (10:31).
Jehu had a reputation as a reckless man. Perhaps his life could be summed up in his reputation of chariot driving: “The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a madman” (9:20). Jehu never took time to consider his situation. His zeal always ran a mile ahead of him, and he never could quite catch up.
The Christian church is filled with “Jehus” who are driven by the need to move, to solve every problem, sometimes at the expense of everything around him or her. Yes, time is running out and the end will soon come, yet we must move ahead in a sensible fashion that will bring honor to the Lord. Solomon said it well: “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm” (Proverbs 4:25,26).
Lord, help me to be levelheaded and even-tempered in my dealings today. Amen.
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