One Way Rebellion

I hate one way streets. It seems that any time I encounter a one way street, the arrow is pointed in the wrong direction. The place I need to be is upstream, which means that I have to deviate from the shortest route and take a more circuitous route to my destination. For the real man, this is annoying. Real men know how to get from one point to another without directions. Our brains contain a detailed map of the entire world. If we need to get from one point to another, we simply know how to get there. At least we did know...until someone started making one way streets. That threw everything in our brains into disarray. No longer can we simply go from one point to another, now we have to navigate. So when I see a one way sign, I cringe...or I get people to stand in front of the sign pointing the other way (a nod to my rebellious side).
I vividly remember two times that I've gone the wrong way. The first time was in Zomba, Malawi. (Short pause for the men to look up Zomba on their brain map.) For some reason, someone decided that the right side of the road was the wrong side of the road. Not only that, but the right side of the car was the left side of the car. The passenger is supposed to be on the right hand side of the car - everyone knows that. But the cars in Malawi put the passenger on the left...thereby making the right side of the car the left. From the left hand passenger seat, it was my job to shift gears (since shifting gears is a right hand function, not left). On our first venture onto the highway, we successfully managed to get the car moving forward on the right side of the road. With perfect teamwork, we shifted into second gear. We celebrated. Then we looked up to see a large truck speeding toward us in our lane. Now from the perspective of the driver of the truck, he saw a very tiny car lurching toward him in his lane. His perspective was correct. The right side of the road was the wrong side of the road.
The other time I tried to go the wrong way down a one way street was in Austin, TX. Some friends and I were headed to my parents house. My parents moved to Austin after I graduated high school, so I wasn't familiar with most of Austin - certainly not the downtown part that is one way in every direction. My friends wanted to go down Sixth Street. I don't know why since we weren't the type that would party on Sixth Street...and it was the middle of the afternoon. But, being the neo-native Austinite, I boldly headed directly for Sixth Street. My brain map led me directly to Sixth Street and we turned left onto Sixth Street. The first thing I noticed was just a glimpse of a sign that said "Wrong Way." But the greater impression was the three lanes of cars heading toward me.
There are times that my One Way rebellion spills over into my spiritual life. Instead of following Jesus, I try to navigate my own path. The things of this world distract me from walking in His steps. Satan whispers that there's another way that will help me get to the same point. I would like to be able to tell you that there are only two times in my life that I remember going the wrong way spiritually. I can't do that. When I go the wrong way spiritually, the signs aren't as obvious as a truck barreling toward me or three lanes of traffic going the opposite way. The dangers are more real than cars and trucks, but not as obvious.
Jesus promises that his way leads to a complete life. He calls us to give up everything else - to unburden ourselves from the weights the world shackles on us - and follow him. Life as I know it is best when I answer his call.