You are bound to encounter three signs with similar but different messages, U-pick, U-Haul, and U-turn. U-picks, U-Hauls, and U-turns illustrate three spiritual realities.

First, U-pick farms illustrate making choices for life. Vance Havner said, “Life is a series of choices between the bad, the good, and the best. Everything depends on how we choose.” When you see the U-pick sign at a farm, you understand you can pick the fruit or vegetables you want to pay for and take home for consumption. Someone said, “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions.”     

Second, U-Haul trailers illustrate making checklists of possessions. There are two categories for possessions, namely, permanent and passing. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorts, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Adrian Rogers said, “When you add up everything you have that money can’t buy and death can't take away, then you’ll know how wealthy you are.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 reads, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Jim Elliot, the young missionary who gave his life to take the Gospel to the Auca tribe and was slain by a spear, wrote these immortal words in the flyleaf of his Bible: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Remember the discoveries made in King Tut’s Tomb. His cold, lifeless, mummified body was encased in a golden sarcophagus that was surrounded by his valuables he thought would somehow help him in the afterlife. The saying, “You never see a U-Haul behind a hearse,” means you can’t take it with you.

Third, U-turn lanes illustrate making changes in direction. Repentance is a change of mind and heart that leads to a change in direction. It is when you do an about face and begin to march forward. It is a 180-degree turn. Lamentations 3:40-41 reads, “Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord; Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.” Aren’t you grateful God allows U-turns? However, sometimes there are signs that read, “No U-turn.” Remember as Isaac Watts warns, “There’s no repentance in the grave.”
Christian keep these things in mind as you make choices, checklists, and changes.

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.