“A God-loyal life keeps you on track; sin dumps the wicked in the ditch.” (Proverbs 13:6 MSG)
I have to restrain myself from checking text messages while I’m driving. I know that looking at my phone while driving could cause an accident. I could hurt myself or others with my carelessness. Taking my eyes off the road for one moment could lead to dire consequences, but it takes continuous focus to stay safe.
Every day we are faced with hundreds of choices. Some of them may seem trivial and not worth much thought. Inattention can lead to destruction. Yielding to temptation even once can change the trajectory of one’s life. One moment of weakness can lead to missed opportunities, relapses in addictions, permanent injuries, damaged reputations, broken marriages, harmful relationships, or financial ruin.
One bad decision may wreck your life, but it takes a series of good choices to keep you on track. Moment by moment, we have to restrain ourselves from minor distractions. Day after day, we must resist major temptations. And no matter how much self-control and discipline we have, we may eventually slip up and make mistakes. This is why we need grace. We cannot keep ourselves on track by our own merit, but we can depend on God to do so. Godliness allows us to live with integrity, to intentionally make good choices over and over. Independent of God, we fall prey to our weaknesses and end up in the ditch.
I pray for your safety and for you to listen to your instincts. Turn your phone off before you turn your time here on Earth off and worse include an innocent person'(s). Put your phone in the back seat. Pull over if you cannot resist, but do NOT Text and Drive. You do not have that right of control over lives. Your instincts are screaming or you would never have posted this. Listen to your instincts. They are never wrong.
ReplyDeleteLaura, I don't text and drive..My phone used to read out texts--but now, since the last update, it has stopped doing that :-(. Anyway, now I just wait till the next signal light to check incoming texts. I was just using this familiar temptation as a metaphor.
DeleteThank you for that. I just couldn't get it out of my head how you would never be able to forgive yourself if something did happen and I never wanted you to have to live your life like that.
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