Message summary:  Today we consider the covered bridge rule, better known as the golden rule.

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"In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you" (Matthew 7:12). "In honor preferring one another" (Romans 12:10). "In humility consider others better than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).

Yesterday I (Stephen) participated in an organized bike ride through Lancaster County called the "Covered Bridge Classic". I rode some 50 miles and passed through six covered bridges. I needed to make sure I had adequate battery power as an e-bike is heavy and not pleasurable to ride w/o the battery working. The ride had various routes with some as long as 100 miles which passed through 14 bridges.

It's a popular ride with over 1000 bikers. I was a bit self conscious not owning nor desiring to purchase a riding uniform but Brooksyne assured me there would be others who looked like farmers which I took as a compliment. But almost everyone I saw had the colorful tight spandex type outfits and I saw no one riding a fat-tire e-bike like mine. Most of the bikes were the thin tire racing types, not e-bikes. But I never have been one who fits the mold in all settings.

Covered bridges are constructed to be one lane, although I did see one years ago in Brown County State Park in Indiana that was a two lane (photo here). Since it's single file when you approach a covered bridge the unwritten rule is you slow down to see if another car has approached the bridge and wait for it to pass through before taking your turn.

One time I was entering a covered bridge and another car was also entering from the opposite side.  With no means to communicate, we both backed up to yield and gestured for the other to come on through. Finally I drove through as it was evident that he was going to "out-considerate" me! I rolled down my window as I passed him, smiled and expressed my thanks.

This is a small microcosm of how life should work. Many of us learned the first daily text as a child. "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you" which is often called the "Golden Rule". Today I consider the opening statement "In everything". If we genuinely practice it in the minor things as well as the major things in life we do well.

Consideration is the practice of the golden rule in the small details of life, beginning in the home and extending to all relationships. What if the billions of personal interactions that take place all over the globe today were truly characterized by this rule? Well that would certainly bring about world peace but in reality that just isn't going to happen until the return of the Prince of Peace.

But by God's transforming grace you and I can do something in our little corner of the world. Today in our speech, in our body language and in our actions let us keep this attitude foremost in our hearts; "In humility consider others better than yourselves", whether at home, in the marketplace, at work or on the highways.

What a great key the apostle Paul gives us in the two supplemental texts. May God help us to practice them daily! The word for "preferring" means "to lead the way for others, to show deference". What if, for one day, the world would operate like this? What if, in checkout lines all over the country people said, "No, please, I insist, you go first". What if, instead of honking and shaking their fists, drivers would wave the other driver to go first? What if, in marriage, partners would really look out for each other's interests before considering their own desires? We might call this "the covered bridge rule".

Be encouraged today!  Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber