What compels a turtle to cross the road?

It seems over the past few weeks I have seen more turtles on the road than normal.

Just the other day, I passed by one–it was straddling the double yellow line in the middle of the road, its head stretched out of its shell, craning to survey its dangerous surroundings.

It’s a pitiful sight that compels some drivers to quickly pull over, and dodging the traffic, rescue the turtle and place it safely along the side of the road. I don’t know this for fact, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the animal just turned around and crawled back onto the highway. Living dangerously, on the edge, oblivious to the risks it is taking.

What compels a turtle to cross the road?

Growing up in Florida, it was a common to see a shelled reptile moving across the asphalt from one pond to an adjacent water source, but here in Tennessee we have few ponds and fewer lakes in which turtles dwell.

So here, perhaps its just curiosity or that the road just happened to be in the path the animal was crawling. I know we have different kinds of turtles here, but they demonstrate just as much boldness of turtles further south.

In a way slightly similar to the turtle’s, we say we we’re strong enough to go into the enemy’s territory and return unscathed. We’ll keep our eyes wide open. We’ll be alert. We believe we’re well-protected for this dalliance with danger. Evolutionists would say this is further evidence that we are descended from reptiles; I would say evolutionists are nuts.

But just as the turtle tragically discovers his shell is no protection against the oncoming vehicles, we discover that in our own flesh we can’t resist the temptations that abound when we edge into threatening situations.

What compels a child of God to engage in risky, God-dishonoring behavior?

Most of us don’t willingly walk out in traffic, but we are lured to do things, say things, and think things that are damaging to our witness and more—when we fail to live in Christ.

This reminds me of a remnant of Judah who, following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, desired to flee to Egypt. Through Jeremiah, God told them to remain in Judah, promising he would grant them “compassion” and allow them “to return to [their] own soil’ (Jeremiah 42:10). Yet they rejected God’s counsel and traveled to Egypt and adopted the Egyptians’ customs as their own. As He promised, all but a few met their “end by sword or famine.”

The fruits of their willful disobedience were severe. To be sure, their obedience would have brought them God’s blessings, but their desire to seek their own way brought destruction.

Then the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to live there for a while, will know whose word stands, Mine or theirs! (Jeremiah 44:28b)