“A Problem You Can Fix Now”

Sunday, October 15, 2023

The check-engine light came on in my truck not long ago. And I did what I think most of us do: deliberately ignored it. When it came on, my first thought was, “Well, that could be something really simple and cheap to fix... or it could be something difficult and expensive. If it’s going to be costly, I just don’t want to know. So I’ll ignore it.”

But then I remembered one of my college buddies who once ignored that light in his car for over three years because he feared what it would cost to fix the problem. Over time, other problems developed. Eventually, when it became practically un-drivable, he took it into a repair shop. They told him that it could be fixed, but it would cost more than the worth of the car.

Do you ever find yourself doing the same thing with your spiritual life? Do you ever read something in Scripture, have a conversation, or hear a sermon that alerts you to a life problem that you should fix? When that happens, what do you do?

The conscience is like a check-engine light for the soul. When it’s trained by the word of God, it will alert us that something—perhaps an easily-fixable problem—is wrong in our lives. And when that happens, we have to decide if we will address the problem right away... or just ignore it because fixing it might come at a high personal cost. A word to the wise: life works like my buddy’s car—it will be more costly to fix the problem later. So, address spiritual issues immediately. Don’t give a spiritual problem time to grow. It will be far more costly in the long run.

“Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (Jas. 1:14-15)

- Dan Lankford, minister 

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