Recently during the middle of a Saturday night church service dozens of smart phones around us started buzzing in response to a severe weather alert regarding a dangerous storm system moving through the valley.
While these kinds of texts are informative, they can sometimes be disruptive and also be somewhat alarming. We don’t always like the warnings, but the warnings are necessary to keep us safe reminding us to batten down the hatches at home with our backyard patio furniture or to drive carefully in the event we’re caught in traffic in the storm.
What would our Christian walk look like if God employed some sort of warning system that would alert us on our smart phone every time we were about to step into sin? Would we curb our evil thoughts or actions if we knew that the wrong deed we were about to commit would engage an alert warning on our phone that everyone around us would hear?
The truth is – God does employ a warning system for His children and it’s called the Holy Spirit. John 14:15-17 tells us: “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”
When we’re tempted to flirt with a married co-worker, gossip about our neighbor or getting ready to scream at the Barista for getting our Latte order wrong — we may not get an actual phone alert, but we’ll frequently get that little fluttering in the pit of our stomach or that little voice in our head warning us.
God’s Word reminds us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5); so we must trust that warning bells will sound in our spirit when we are about to commit any un-Christian like behavior.
The decision to heed that still small voice is entirely up to us. We can choose to go in another direction – curb our impulses, silence our tongue or walk away OR we can plunge headlong into sin and claim “I don’t know what came over me,” or “the devil made me do it.”
Ignoring the Holy Spirit when we’re about to cross a moral line is about as smart as silencing our phone and driving headlong into a storm ignoring a severe weather alert. God sent us His warning system – His Holy Spirit – and tells us: Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. (1 Thess. 5:19-22 NLT)
Be smart — heed the warnings!
Blessings in Christ,
Kathy K.
May God make me more able to hear His warning bells!
I’m sure glad my phone doesn’t go off every time I’m about to mess up. It will go off all the time! I much prefer the Holy Spirit’s gentle voice. 😉
Amen, Sisters!