Are You On The Right Side Of The Road?

Whose side of the road are you on? | Salon News

The above article discusses the background, advantages and disadvantages of driving and walking either on the right or left side of the road. I recall being in Great Britain at an intersection. As normal for me, I looked to the left to see if any traffic was coming. None was, so I stepped out to cross the street. My wife grabbed me back just in time for a car coming from the other direction to pass where I had stood a fraction of a second before. Instinctively I was totally unprepared for people driving on the left side of the street.

In the Bible our manner of life is often called our walk. So I might ask, "Whose side of the road are you on?" Are you on the right side?

Since most of us are right handed, it seems to this majority that right is correct and left is wrong. For instance, way back in Genesis 4 the NIV translates the LORD's conversation with Cain in this manner:

"Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

The word "right" translates the Hebrew word Yatab. The King James translates the question in this way: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" This suggests that Yatab is a term referring to doing what is pleasing, beautiful, what makes another happy and want to accept you.

Again, when Abraham pleaded with the LORD for Sodom in Genesis 18 he asked, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" In this case the Hebrew word is Mishpat, a legal term used by a judge in the courtroom.

We could go on discussing right from wrong in some detail. For believers the question is always, "Whose side of the road are you on?" The right side is always that side established by the LORD who has rescued us from certain death when we stepped out into the left side. In fact, He stepped out into that side so that He might take our place. Therefore, in gratitude and faith, we walk where He leads. His is always the right side. We live our lives, walk our walks to please Him.

By the way, this analogy and these translations are not in any way intended to offend or judge folks from those countries where it is legal to drive on the left side of the road.