“Taking your eyes off the road too long or too often while using this system could cause a crash, resulting in injury or death to you or others. Focus your attention on driving.”
-OnStar
Hello, this is Pastor Mark to share a warning.
My GMC Yukon is a pretty smart car. At various times while operating, it tells me if my hands are too loose on the steering wheel. My seat vibrates if I get too close to something and it brakes itself if I get too close to something in front of me. I have lights in my side mirrors that alert me if someone is on either side. And I may use my computer screen for directions or to show a picture of a map, but I don’t really use it that much unless I need to change the time, check the service schedule or tune the CD or radio station. On occasion and without notice, the screen clears, and it is replaced by this somber warning from OnStar of “Don’t look now – it’s too dangerous.”
And then I look to see the warning on the screen that I have been told not to look at. I’m trying to drive safely but to see the warning – I must take my eyes off the road to read the warning. Not only that, but I also have to take my hand off the steering wheel to press the “OK” for the ‘pretty smart’ car to know that I received their message and clear the page to return to my maps or whatever I want to use the screen for.
Isn’t our living a Christian life a little like that? We aren’t always fully focused on the narrow path God’s will directs us. There are warning signs along the way that distract us and challenge us to re-focus.
If we remained focused on the road, then maybe we wouldn’t see the warning and if we are fully engaged in driving toward our goal then maybe we would not need the warning. Ah, but we sometimes do need the warning.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me,” Paul writes to the Church at Philippi as if he were the OnStar for them. The Philippians took their eyes off the prize and needed a warning. And they were told to let go of what they were holding onto in order to hit the reset button and get a new grip on their Christian faith.
Paul continued, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
Are you distracted from the goal that God has set before you? Consider this your warning and then hit the OK button. Reset your course. Let go of the death grip you have on your steering wheel – what you thought you were in control of – and after hitting the do-over, re-take the wheel and keep on going with God as your guide.
It is very dangerous to take your eyes off the goal God has given us. It could be fatal to both you and those you love. My car has the sense to know I should not look at the screen while driving. I wonder, are we as smart as my car? But heh, if you need to take a glance at this warning to reset, now hit the OK, re-grip the steering wheel and get back on track.
See you in Church!
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