Getting Off the Bus
April 16, 1982
God uses kings as he uses bus drivers. Both are given authority.
While we are on the bus we must obey the bus driver. But we have no obligation to get on the bus, or to remain on the bus. It is our choice.
We choose our rulers. While we are their subjects we must obey them in all things lawful. We are under no obligation to remain subjects. Government receives its power from the consent of the governed.
If a passenger doesn’t like the bus driver, he may stay off the bus, or get off at the next stop. Babies whose parents remain on the bus may get off when they are able.
Dissatisfied passengers may not damage the bus or injure or insult the driver.
Unfortunately, most passengers forget that buses have exits. They seem to assume that a chasm of chaos exists outside the buses. They spend a lifetime on the same bus, constantly complaining about the driver’s lack of skill, his breach of contract, and his rules for passenger conduct.
Most of the buses on which they sit have been stalled for many years, while a small band of people outside the buses were moving about freely in God’s beautiful world.
When the workers of iniquity are confined on buses and intimidated by bus drivers, their evil works are restrained.
When workers of righteousness sit on buses, their works are limited too.
Let us hope that more workers of right eousness discover the exits. Buses were not designed for them, but for those who can’t read God’s maps and those who choose not to travel on God’s roads in their own vehicles.
Those who reject God’s ways instinctively seek the shelter of a bus. Let us thank God that they do, and pray for them.