Keep It On the Road There Fella!

“The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it,
the more it stimulates thirst.” (Martin Luther)

One of the “safety” measures of my Honda CRV is something called LKAS.  I’m fairly certain this is now a standard feature in most cars today.  LKAS (Lane Keeping Assist System) is designed to make driving more convenient by helping to keep your vehicle in the middle of a detected lane, and it provides alerts and steering adjustments if the vehicle is detected drifting out of its lane.  In other words, if you’re not paying attention, distracted, or slacking off behind the wheel, the car will automatically steer back into the proper lane and alert you to your inattention. It is there to help keep you on the road. In the past such daydreaming and negligence could more swiftly result in a sideswipe or fender-bender; but with these new safety features there is a bit more warning so you can remain safe and avoid calamities. Of course, this doesn’t completely absolve the distracted driver from potential accidents. But when you hear the beeping alert, feel the vibrating steering wheel, or see “Steering Required” flashing on the dashboard you know you need to refocus asap.
 
I’ll admit that I had some fun playing with and testing this feature when I first got the car. My kids were equally impressed watching the steering wheel move by itself as we traveled down the highway. "Look kids, no hands!" However, it's important to know that there are limitations. If I ignore the audio and visual alerts, the car will continue to veer off-course and end up in a ditch or something worse. This safety feature is only meant to reengage my attention. It is never going to self-pilot the car or completely prevent an accident. That being said, it has saved me a couple of times in the short two months I’ve had my car. For whatever reason my car, and my mind, have drifted causing me to get too close to the painted lines.  It is definately good to have such safety features.

To call the Word of God a divine safety feature, though gimmicky and on point to the illustration of this blog post, is a massive understatement. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  There is power in the Word of God. Power to guide and direct our paths in ways that will prevent us from getting hurt or hurting others.  It will stop us from crossing a moral line or crashing into a tempting obstacle of evil. God’s always relevant, active, and authoritative Word sounds the alarms and gives the warnings.
 
“Wake up!”
“Pay attention!”
“Danger is Near!” 
 
No matter the circumstances, God is providing the necessary safety measures to stop us from further heading down dangerous roads. He alerts us to turn our attention away from whatever is distracting us and shift our eyes back to Him. Scripture is our secure guidebook to return us into a right relationship with the Lord when we abandon the road of righteousness or stray from the path of peace. The Word of God hinders us from crashing into the guardrail of sin and the oncoming traffic of Satan’s lies.  
 
Now in my car, with the simple push of a button, I can turn off the LKAS safety feature. Once I disenable, it does not matter how close I get to the road lines or the vehicle in front of me. I’m no more protected at that point than I would have been in my sixteen-year-old Corolla. For this very reason, I haven’t turned off the LKAS system since I purchased the car. Why would I?
It seems silly to deactivate something that has a sole purpose of keeping me alive.  The Bible is no different (cf. Romans 1:16). Obviously there is no “Shut Down” button to push regarding the Bible. But let’s be honest, we stubborn sinners find other ways to turn off or limit the power of God’s Word. We don’t read it. We don’t listen to it. We don’t give it the time of day. Sure, it may be there to light our paths and keep us from stumbling in darkness, but we are far too busy and have other things to worry about. Have you been guilty of this? We all have. Thankfully God is gracious and forgiving. It’s never too late to enable the safety feature of God’s Word. This is why a regular habit of Bible study is so important and why personal devotional time is so helpful.
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Open the Bible.
Buy a devotional book.
Make use of a Portals of Prayer.
Download an app like this one or this one or any of these. 
 
“Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19 NLT)

​​Happy reading! 😊