Thursday, October 20, 2011

Warning Light


Your thought for the Day – "Warning Lights"

“Be Bold in what you stand for and careful what you fall for.” -- Ruth Boorstin

Scripture:
“If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just, that He forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all wickedness.” -- 1 John 1:9

Reflection:
Our cars have warning lights on the dashboard that tell us when something is wrong that needs attention. They say things like "Check gauges," "Door ajar," "Tire pressure," "Battery level," etc. The lights are there to protect us, and to protect the car from being damaged.

When one of those lights comes on, we can do the wise thing and stop to find out what the problem is, and get it fixed. Or we could just carry around a little hammer and smash the light.

That sounds silly, but it's just what we sometimes do in our spiritual lives. We are doing something wrong, engaging in something that is wrong, and we get a warning light from our conscience. We might ignore the sign--smash the light, so to speak--and go on. But a car will stall if we ignore the warning lights, and our spiritual lives will stall if we ignore the prompting of our conscience.

In 2 Samuel 11-12, we see the result of ignoring the warning lights. King David has taken the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah the Hittite, and now she is pregnant with David's child. David tries to cover what he has done by getting Uriah to go and sleep with his wife. When that doesn't work, David engineers his death. So now David is guilty of adultery, deception, murder.

The warning lights, the "guilt lights," have come on, and David has chosen to smash them. He hasn't dealt with the guilt properly, and he is miserable.

Maybe you have guilt in your heart right now; you've seen the warning light of your conscience come on. If so, you need to pay heed to it and take care of it, not just smash it with a hammer. God give us forgiveness each and everyday.

Prayer:
Our Heavenly Father, we ask that You would help us to turn away from the temptations we face, and to live a life of integrity. Help us to walk blamelessly, to do what is right, and to speak the truth at all times so that we may honor You in all that we do we pray. Amen.

~Taken from COL (Chaplain) Sherman Baker's "Thought for the Day"
Tripler Army Medical Center

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