The Tale of Two Drivers

Last week an 85-year-old man became the oldest man to be charged under new legislation here in Ontario, designed to combat "street racing, stunts and contests.” The man was pulled over after being clocked driving 161 km/h (100 mph) on a main highway north of Toronto, where the speed limit is 100 km/h. Apparently, he was on the way to the bank and then planned to do some shopping. Needless to say, he did so without his car, since his car was immediately impounded for a week.

I am a big supporter of this legislation since Ontario roads tend to be plagued by speed demons who drive as if they were operating a video game, slaloming down the highways, oblivious to those around them, seeming to think that if they crash all they have to do is push a “Reset” button.

At the other extreme is 58-year-old Stephanie Cole of Fishponds, Bristol who also lost her car for a week when police pulled her over traveling at less than 10 mph on the M32 motorway. Straddling the shoulder and inside lane, Cole had posted a sign in the back window of the car which said: "I don't do fast, please overtake." At least this lady understood that she should not have been on the road because she was thankful that the police pulled her over so that they could give her a ride home and agreed that she needed to take a driving test before getting behind the wheel again. The octogenarian from Ontario, on the other hand, ignored the police’s first attempts to pull him over, actually speeding up and was so upset about losing his car that he swore at the policewoman.

How do you respond to conviction in your life? When the Holy Spirit tries to pull you over and get your attention, how you tend to react? Do you speed up or stop? Do you realize the need to repent or do you just apologize? Or do you do just ignore God’s voice and hope that it will go away? Do you acknowledge that you have a problem or blame someone else for either causing it or exposing it?

I have only one more question. What has God been saying to you about remembering persecuted Christians lately? Have you been listening? Okay, I guess that was two questions.