CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

                                                            SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

(2 Chr 36:15) And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people. 

You know the familiar feeling when your check engine light comes on?  Thoughts run through your mind:  I wonder what the problem is?  The car seems to run fine.  Maybe it’s just a fluke and it will turn off eventually.  What if I need major repair work?  I should have sold this car ages ago.  I can’t afford a car payment.  And the list goes on while the icon stays on and seems to glow like a Time’s Square advertisement.  That’s kind of like how the Lord works with His children.  He sends them warnings but so often we ignore them until we break down. 

Whenever Israel went astray He would send warnings through the prophets.  They would speak boldly in the name of the Lord.  Look at the Old Testament and see how many prophets of God there were.  They were faithful to speak God’s message.  God wanted to spare His people from disaster.  That’s why the prophets would thunder their heavenly admonitions and some, like Jeremiah, had tears in their eyes.  But so often Israel persecuted and sometimes even killed the prophets.  They didn’t want to fix the problem and wanted to black out that check engine light.  

So how does that check engine light work when the child of God strays and needs a warning?  

- THE HOLY SPIRIT: (Isa 30:21) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.  If you listen to that still small voice of the Spirit, He will guide you away from error and into the truth.  But you have to listen and not push Him away. (Psa 46:10)

- CIRCUMSTANCES: (2 Chr 13:12 )…O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”  Many times as we wrestle with the Lord, He will make the situations of our lives turn problematic and which defy solution.  This is God’s way of getting our attention!

- A FELLOW BELIEVER: (2 Sam 12:7) Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!...  When David strayed God sent a concerned friend to challenge him in the direction he was taking. (Gal 6:1)  Sometimes even non-believers speak out against our compromise, like my Christian cop friend who got angry and cussed in the squad car and was then rebuked by his unsaved partner.  

Is God trying to get your attention through your marital problems?  How about your troubling finances?  Is your health also something that might cause you to wake up and realize you have strayed from the Lord?  That check engine light is an opportunity to rededicate your life.  So why not do business with God right now and get everything cleared between you and Him?  

Louie