Proverbs 13:18

Proverbs 13:18 "Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured."

On the road of life, everyone eventually comes to intersections where changes are necessary.  These intersections occur frequently early in life and while they may get less frequent as life goes on, they never are entered excitedly.  Intersections require us to slowdown. They require our attention to signage and our consideration of traffic.  Intersections are usually an interruption to our train of thought and pace of travel.  We can't safely employ cruise control when going through intersections.  When approaching an intersection, we need to be prepared to make some type of change in speed or direction and often both.  When driving the roadway of life, intersections are those places that require the most effort, attention and patience.

What are these intersections we have to pass through?  They are the Intersections of Instruction where we are told what to do.  Some intersections tell us to slow down with yellow flashing lights.  Some tell us to stop with a big red sign.  Others tell us to wait.  Some intersections instruct us to yield to strangers.  Most intersections tell us with white or black arrows which way to go.  There are even those intersections that have construction workers holding signs or police officers waving arms instructing us what to do.  These intersections are unavoidable but they are also almost always unwanted.  No one likes these intersections.  They take time and they require thought.

In life, we're constantly confronted with instruction.  Sometimes this instruction is simply a sign directing us in the right direction but other times, this instruction is a police officer blowing the whistle at us and putting his hand up angrily at us to stop.  Instruction can be purely educational but when given urgently to prevent serious harm, it can be uncomfortably reproving.  No matter the signage or the signal, these intersections are the most important sections on the road of life.  Whether you approach an intersection with a green light of instruction or a red light of reproof, these intersections are defining moments on your journey.  Intersections are where decisions are made, both good and bad.  These decisions are where turns are made and these turns dictate the direction of our lives.  Intersections are also where most accidents happen on the roadway of life.  These are the points along life's way where people get hurt.  For these reasons, Intersections of Instruction are the times we need to be most alert and sensible.
 
If a person carelessly approaches a time in their life when they're being instructed, there will be costly consequences.  If a person approaches an intersection with his head in the clouds instead of on the traffic signal, he may stop at the intersection despite the traffic signal projecting a green light.  The consequence at best will be honking horns and getting rear-ended at worse.  In the case of honking horns, the consequence is shame and in the case of getting rear-ended is poverty.  When we fail to take heed to instruction, costly consequences await.  When we ignore direction at critical times in life, loss of resources and loss of reputation are always the outcome.  Failure to heed the signals and signs of wise teachers throughout your life will severely alter the course of your life.  Students who ignore the counsel of their educational instructors at the many intersections early in life will head in a direction that ends in the unemployment line or in the soup kitchen line and those places are places of poverty and shame.  Children who dismiss the lessons of their parents at the countless intersections of adolescence will take turns that will lead to moral poverty and shame.  Couples who disregard the counsel of their pastors or wise peers will make decisions at critical stages of their lives that will end in relational poverty and shame.  When approaching Intersections of Instruction, we can't afford to be texting or day dreaming.  Failure to take signage seriously can add hours and hours to your journey while costing many more dollars.  Far too many of us finish our days wishing we would've listened to a wise authority earlier in life.  Life doesn't need to be so hard.  Marriage doesn't need to be so difficult.  Work doesn't need to be so disappointing.  Christianity doesn't need to be so frustrating.  Pay close attention to the instruction the intersections of life are providing and you'll make many less U-turns and consume much less fuel.

The Intersections of Instruction that have the highest stakes are those that have red blinking lights or big red octagonal signs.  Failure to heed these reproofs of life can be deadly.  Failure to heed these humbling inhospitable sights can be catastrophic and the catastrophes almost always hurt others.  When a driver defies the reproof of a red light and T-bones another vehicle, lives are easily lost and injuries are almost always imminent.  It is for this serious reason that when a driver heeds the reproving stop sign, other drivers honor him or her.  There is an appreciation for those who regard the reproof.  There is a respect for those who respond immediately and appropriately to the red reproof.  Such is the case in life when a man is urgently reproved for his behavior or when a woman is reproved for her speech.  The people around us respect us when we regard the reproof necessary to prevent our families from getting hurt.  The souls among us honor us when we stop and heed the blunt calls for change in our lives.  There is honor in heeding the unwanted and life-stopping reproofs of life.

In my pastoral ministry, I have seen people approach these Intersections of Instruction humbly and also proudly.  The men and women who humbly respond to instruction or reproof save themselves a great deal of pain and earn themselves a great deal of honor.  The men and women who respond proudly to instruction or reproof head in a direction that takes them far from peace, honor and relational treasure. It's heartbreaking to watch people ruin their lives or at least, their relationships because of one intersection along the long road of life.  Enjoy the journey, take in the scenery, listen to the music but when approaching an intersection, expected or unexpected, humbly prepare to heed the instruction it brings you.  You’ll be glad you did!