God’s ‘Do Not Enter’ Sign

September 13, 2023

Recognize this street?

It’s Lombard Street in San Francisco. Lombard Street is one of the most popular and recognizable streets in the city. The whole of Lombard Street is three miles long, but this one block section, complete with eight curves has earned the moniker, “the crookedest street in the world.”

I googled “crookedest street in the world” and found references to Vermont Street in San Francisco and Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa. So, this is not a post to debate which street is indeed the most crooked. However, there is a fun  30-minute video HERE if you would like to learn more about the battle for the title “most crooked streets in San Francisco.”

Here’s what the Guinness Book of World Records has to say. “While many roads twist and turn often, only a 400-m (1/4-mile) long section of Lombard Street, as it descends a 27% incline, can claim so many hairpin turns in such a short distance – a total of 1,440 degrees twisted and turned in only 400 m.”[1]

My post this week is a bit more nuanced. When I looked at this photo I took on one of our trips to San Francisco, I noticed something about the image. There’s a big sign at the bottom of this section of Lombard Street that says, ‘Do Not Enter.’

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That sign is not there for decoration. It’s not there because a car can’t physically make it up the street. In fact, a car can’t physically drive up the street. [The street was originally constructed straight in 1922. Shortly after construction, drivers found they could not drive up the street. So, the city, in discussions with the residents, put curves in the street. It was originally two-way but in 1939, it became a one-way street.][2]

The ’Do Not Enter’ sign is there because it was too dangerous for two-way traffic on the curvy street.[3] You can see the steady line of cars coming down Lombard Street. Can you imagine trying to drive up the street against that traffic?

The same can be said for God’s directions to us. God gave us the Ten Commandments to convict us of our inability to keep the law and to point us to our need of Jesus Christ as Savior.[4] If we try to keep His commandments on our own, we will fail. Therefore, like a sign that says, ‘Do Not Enter’, God tells us that we need Jesus to have eternal life with Him.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NIV)

If we sin once in our lives, we earn death, which is more than just physically dying. It is eternal separation from a loving God. Our only option for not experiencing that separation is Christ Jesus our Lord. He died for our sins. He willingly lived a sinless life and became the sacrifice for you and me. He paid our price.

God’s ‘Do Not Enter’ sign is His warning that without Christ, we are doomed.

Let’s be encouraged today that God provides a way to eternal life that we don’t have to earn, but only accept as His gift to us by turning from sin and believing in Him.

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[1] https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/100375-most-crooked-road

[2] https://www.sfgate.com/places/article/lombard-street-17862776.php

[3] https://www.thetowersatrincon.com/blog/cool-facts-on-lombard-street

[4] https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-law.html