I hated to see it! This couldn’t be good! As I backed out of my driveway, a spot appeared from under my truck. Something was leaking and puddling on the concrete. I checked all the fluids and it all seemed okay. I was going to be late picking a friend up at the airport so I pushed on. And there it was. Fifteen minutes into the drive down I-465 and that temperature gauge began to climb. Turn the heat on…full blast and pray.  The temperature began to drop into the normal range. Picked my friend up and delivered him to his car at the church and drove straight to the mechanic. Later that afternoon they took it out and drove it around only to find nothing wrong. Temperature normal. I picked up the truck and decided to test it again myself before heading out on a road trip the next day.  No problem on the interstate and thought I was in the clear. Exited and at the first stop light, temperature climbing. Back to the mechanic.

I am thankful for all of the gauges and warning lights on my vehicles. As much as I don’t want to see one come on, having a little head’s up can keep me from blowing an engine. Assuming I heed the warnings.

Wouldn’t it be great if our bodies came with warning lights. Kind of an early warning system to avoid the heart attack, or high blood pressure or even cancer. A flashing light at the first sign of a cold or flu. Comin’ in Hot!  Or what about our spiritual lives. A warning light when our prayer life is getting a little low.  Or our spiritual disciplines are getting out of rhythm, our timing is off. We are running low on fuel and need to spend some time in the Word. Would we heed the warnings? I drove a rental a few weeks ago that beeped when I put my turn signal on and a car was in my blind spot. What about a warning beep when we are getting a little too close to sin? We all have spiritual blind sights! Or we could have a light for each of the fruit of the Spirit.

In one sense we do have a warning system for our spiritual lives. Will we heed the warnings? Jesus said in John 14 as he was preparing his followers for his death and return to heaven, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you but if I go, I will send him to. you.” He goes on to say that the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will convict us concerning sin and will guide us into all truth. And he does all of this from the inside, indwelling the believer. He is our warning system, if we will heed his warnings. As we grow in the spiritual disciplines, we can learn to distinguish the warnings, the voice or promptings of the Spirit, and keep our lives from breaking down on the side of the road. It is this kind of life that keeps a 1964 Chevy Impala running smoothly alongside that 2023 Chevy Camaro. 

But God has also given us each other to help see the warning signs. Those times when we might be running low or comin’ in hot. Kind of like that mechanic that can see in us things we don’t always see in ourselves. We all have those blind spots to our own spiritual health. And we find it is easy to ignore the warnings. How is your spiritual warning system? Who do you have in your life that can tell when your temperature gauge is starting to climb? Listen to the Holy Spirit on the inside and our friends on the outside.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with your forever
– the Spirit of truth.”
John 14:15