This morning as I was driving to work I saw a traffic sign:

High Crash Area
Stay Alert

Several things ran through my mind:

Gee, I didn’t realize that so many accidents had occurred here.

I shouldn’t be surprised because of the way the road is here.

When we’re moving at a snail’s pace it’s hard to believe anyone could…
Hey, watch it, dude!

Then, as I thought more about it, I realized that I hadn’t considered that the sign was speaking to me.  I was the intended audience.  I should stay alert.  “High Crash Area” means that a lot more wrecks happen right here than on most areas of the roadway.  That means that quite a few drivers who think they’re doing well – they’ve successfully navigated many other stretches without a problem – actually fail right here.  I could be one of them, so I should “Stay Alert”.  But what does it mean to stay alert.  Not just on the road, but in other areas of life that are high crash areas.  How can I be more alert?

I suppose that the sign piqued my interest because I’ve been reading from the book of Isaiah.  I’m not sure what prompted me to read it again.  (Well, that’s a lie, but it’s so hard to explain the 3am God conversations and not sound wacky.)  I really didn’t enjoy Isaiah the first time I read it.  I read it then mostly to be able to say that I had and to get a feel for the whole Bible.  I have avoided reading it again except in bits and pieces in response to a sermon or other work that quoted from it.  I really think I didn’t “get it” then.  But this time has been different.  I’m taking it slowly and really trying to let the prophet’s words speak to me the way I know he was trying to speak to the people of Judah in his own lifetime.  And…WOW…is it speaking to me.

I think what’s hitting home to me in general is how universal some portions of the message are.  When you look at Isaiah 2, for example, Isaiah is speaking to the leaders:

You have abandoned your people,
       the house of Jacob.
       They are full of superstitions from the East;
       they practice divination like the Philistines
       and clasp hands with pagans. (Isaiah 2:6)

The people were practicing all kinds of spiritual things – probably whatever they felt was right for them.  That’s just what a significant number of people in the U.S. are doing right now.  We call it enlightenment, postmodernism, and religious freedom, but what it comes down to is spirituality without a focus and without a purpose.

Just after that, Isaiah says:

Their land is full of silver and gold;
       there is no end to their treasures.
       Their land is full of horses;
       there is no end to their chariots.
 Their land is full of idols;
       they bow down to the work of their hands,
       to what their fingers have made. (Isaiah 2:7, 8 )

The prophet reminds us that we live in a land with an abundance of natural resources, some of which we idolize for their own rarity or beauty and some of which we idolize for the way we can use them toward our own purposes.  Either way, we forget that we didn’t create the raw materials we started with.

We would be wise to heed the prophet’s caution:

The LORD Almighty has a day in store
       for all the proud and lofty,
       for all that is exalted
       (and they will be humbled),
for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
       and all the oaks of Bashan,
for all the towering mountains
       and all the high hills,
for every lofty tower
       and every fortified wall,
for every trading ship
       and every stately vessel.
The arrogance of man will be brought low
       and the pride of men humbled;
       the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
and the idols will totally disappear. (Isaiah 2:12-18)

The raw materials we misuse are not just elements of the natural world.  Consider the raw materials that are the personalities, skills, and potential we have and that the people in our lives also hold.  Isaiah 5 lists six ways people fail to use the natural resources they were given to the advantage of those around them – instead of generosity there is greed, instead of self-control there is gluttony, instead of honesty there is deception, instead of purity there is corruption, instead of humility there is pride, and instead of honesty there is injustice.

When we lose our focus, our attention, on the source of the raw materials, we leave ourselves open to trouble.  We’re just like the drivers who think, “I’m doing alright.  I’ve got my coffee, the traffic report, and cell phone.  I’m alert and prepared”, but fail to watch the road and crash.  We think we have it all together when in fact, we’ve forgotten the most important element of being prepared.  On the road, being alert means paying attention to the road and what’s happening on it.  In life, being alert means paying attention to what’s happening around us, both with the world itself and the other people in it.  It means focusing our attention on what’s really important and using our resources to accomplish a purpose and not just satisfy our own pleasures.  It also means acknowledging where our resources came from and learning how to use them well.  And that means seeking the one who designed them, and us.

That is Isaiah’s purpose, after all.  To wake us up to the fact that there is a God who cares, who is concerned that we are headed down a road that’s dangerous and we’re not paying attention.  He keeps trying to wake us up to the fact that we’re in a “High Crash Area”, but we’re too busy with our coffee and cell phones to see that we’re going to get cut off and…

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