God's Crosswalk

E

ast Elementary School was about a 10-minute walk from our house on Main Street.  Every morning, unless it was bad weather, I grabbed my book satchel, opened the heavy front door, and stepped out to meet the day.  I followed the sidewalk to the corner of Main and Cone Streets.  The latter street was named after my grandfather and proved to be my first great hurdle.  I had to cross Cone Street in order to gain the sidewalk that would take me to school.

I made sure to look both ways for oncoming traffic, just like my mom and dad had taught me, and then I crossed over to the other side.  I made a left turn and began the last leg of my daily jaunt to school.  I passed the Cornwell home, my uncle’s house, the Clarks, the Dellingers, and I walked past the Medical Center Pharmacy and the trees my dad had planted as a young boy.

When I arrived at the corner of Cone and Academy Streets I came to a full stop.  Academy Street was very wide and there was a large crosswalk which led directly to East Elementary’s main sidewalk.  There was a crossing guard who stopped traffic so I could safely cross over.  His name was Richard and he always spoke to me and told me to have a good day.

Above our school flew the American and North Carolina flags and a green pennant that reminded us of safety. One day Richard visited our class to remind us to always look both ways before crossing the street and to always stay within the crosswalk.  As long as we did that, we would be safe and as long as we were safe and there were no accidents, the green pennant would remain fluttering in the breeze above our school.

That very afternoon, something terrible happened.  On the way home, at the corner of Cone and Main Streets, a huge crowd had gathered.  An ambulance and a police car were also there and a policeman was directing the ever increasing traffic on Main Street.  Richard was there and he and the ambulance men were working with a small boy who had not remembered to look both ways or to remain in the crosswalk when crossing the street.  That young boy was injured and did not recover.

I never come to that intersection but I think about that day.  Although it has been 47 years since that accident, the scene is indelibly etched in my mind.  The lesson of the crosswalk has stayed with me all these years and as I read God’s word I see the lesson of the crosswalk within its pages.

In John 5:24, Jesus makes the following statement, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”  Do you see the crosswalk in the words of Jesus?  Every crosswalk has two boundaries between which we can safely walk.  Jesus, in this passage, says that we must hear his words and believe in God who sent him.  As long as we listen and believe, we walk safely and cross over.  Inside the crosswalk is life; outside the crosswalk is danger, pain, and death.  Jesus reminds us in the closing words of this passage that those who hear the word and believe in God have “crossed over from death to life.”

The road of life is fraught with many intersections.  Intersections are a necessary part of the Christian life and how we choose to cross them demonstrates our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ.  Are you at an intersection?  Are you at the corner of Main and Cone Streets today?  Are you looking for a way to cross over and continue in the path God has for you?  If so, open God’s word, listen to His voice, and believe in Him and in His son, Jesus Christ, and you will safely cross over.   Are you walking in God’s crosswalk today?