When I was little, my big brother would always yell “shotgun” when we were about to get into the car and go somewhere. I never knew what it meant other than he was getting to ride in the front seat and I would have to be stuck in the back. He always said it first, so obviously it meant more to him than it did to me.
Well, one day as I was pulling into the station to buy some gas, I pulled up next to an RV. As I looked over, I could see a large golden retriever sitting in the driver’s seat. His paws were right up on the steering wheel like he was driving! I immediately thought, “I wonder who’s riding shotgun?” I started thinking about that phrase and decided to look it up later that evening.
This is what I learned:
In the 1800s American West, wagon drivers would hire a person to sit next to them with a shotgun to watch for trouble and protect the wagon. It was called “riding shotgun.”
Nowadays when someone wants to ride in the passenger seat, they sometimes use that same phrase. It was nothing more than a neat little fact until the morning when I saw something even more strange than the dog pretending to drive the RV.
I had gotten onto the interstate, and just as I had merged into traffic, a man in a truck passed me. As he went past, I looked over and “riding shotgun” in his car was a life-size skeleton wearing a hat! He drove right past me like nothing was wrong.
“What’s the big deal? So I’ve got a skeleton in my passenger seat.” I guess he didn’t mind that kind of “company” but I don’t think I’d feel comfortable driving around with that thing all the time.
In a spiritual aspect, when it comes down to it, we chose who “rides shotgun” in our life. We chose who we are closest to, who we allow to influence us, who we chose to protect us, and with who we share our love and passions. “Shotgun” is an important place in the life of a Christian, for what we keep closest to us will eventually become a part of us, and if we are not careful, will rule over us.
Some of us have forgotten the fact that the devil uses the simplest of things to drive a wedge in between the Christian and Jesus, in order to take the “driver's seat.” From the beginning of time, the devil has been striving to gain ultimate control. So, he is continually vying for the position closest to the heart of the believer to eventually “take the wheel.”
Addictions, envy, hate, anger, jealousy, ungodly relationships, lies, and more are just the beginning. The longer those things are allowed closest to you, the more they begin to take over.
That’s why we are warned in Ephesians 4:27, to “…neither give place to the devil.” But rather to “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
The next time you are driving in your car, I pray that when you look over at the passenger seat, it causes you to think back about the analogy of “riding shotgun” and take into perspective what things you are allowing to have that close, protected place in your life. Then, pull over and tell the Devil to “hit the road,” because no one "rides shotgun" but Jesus!
