The older we get and the longer we drive our vehicles, the more we discover over time that driving can present many unseen challenges that can pose great dangers. If it’s not having to quickly swerve to avoid just about any form of debris that has ended up in your lane, then it is overly aggressive drivers and ‘wannabe-NASCAR-drivers’ you have to watch out for. And then there is the ever-increasing hazards of distracted drivers who become pre-occupied with their phones...while driving down the road at 70 mph!

Hence, the reason I am drawing parallels with why driving safely and responsibly is similar to what it means to ‘abide in Jesus’. The first time you ever watch your 16-year old drive off in the car...by themselves...can be sobering. You are just aware of all the things that can happen out there and if there was ever a time you wanted to ‘instill some fear’ into your kids, it was then, trusting, hoping, and praying that they would ‘pay attention’ and drive safe. For the life of me, I cannot imagine what it has to be like for their parents that get that dreaded call in the night informing them that what they feared most...has come upon them.

And yet...we all...at one point or another...can tend to get comfortable with our own driving habits. Then comes the famous line to our kids: “Do what I say, not what I do.”

Can you imagine owning a car that drives itself? That really is ‘a thing’ out here in the Bay area and I see lots of cars on the road that are ‘driverless’. You can even get a driverless taxi now to take you places. And Tesla owners...have the option to ‘download’ software to their own cars that make them ‘self-driving’. This option does come with strict warnings that you not try and sleep or read while the car is operating in this mode. I mean really, what could possibly go wrong with that...right? Yet...how many believers have settled in to a complacent coast in their own faith walk and don’t even realize how they have ‘drifted’ from so many of the warnings God sends us? (Heb. 2:1)

Warnings were issued by prophets of old about growing at ‘ease’ or ‘complacent’. (Amos 6:1; Zeph. 1:12). And look what God warned the people prior to going in to settle in the land of Canaan- “Beware that you don’t forget the Lord...after you have eaten and are full...” (Deut. 8:17)

Do we think Peter was kidding when he admonished us to “Be vigilant...alert and sober-minded...because you have an enemy (the devil) on the prowl wanting to devour you...” (1 Pet. 5:8). Or how about Paul’s repeated warning about ‘working out our salvation with fear and trembling’, (Phil. 2:12) and the importance of ‘setting our minds on things above and not on the earth’ (Col. 3:2). That might be akin to ‘keep your eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel!’. Let’s be honest here...who has not come up on some form of debris on a dark road in the middle of the night, be it lumber, a shredded truck tire, or even a dead hog or deer laying there? A single moment of not paying attention can cost you your life.

So there was a reason Paul spoke of the importance of ‘bringing in to captivity EVERY thought to the obedience of Christ’ given we are in the middle of a spiritual war/conflict. (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Oh...but you would not describe your spiritual walk as being that ‘serious and intense’? Hmmm...maybe you are on that big wide comfortable lane...along with so many others that Jesus spoke about in Matt. 7:13-14 where He told us where that road leads to.

Friends- we are living in a time where ignoring that ‘check engine’ light should not be ignored. (2 Cor. 13:5). And while ‘giving Jesus the wheel’ might make for good song lyrics, it certainly is not solid, biblical counsel.