The alarming condition of many alarms:

I finished yesterday's message with a story about my late father.  He wouldn't mind.  He told me one time that if he could serve as an illustration to help others to grasp a truthfrom God's word, he was just fine with that.

Dad bought a car one time--I can't remember which one; Dad owned a lot of cars--that had a warning sound, bell or buzzer, that would go off when the car's speed got to a certain point.  At the time Dad was fond of driving fast, so this feature really bugged him.  It took him a while, but he finally found how to adjust the speed-dinger.  Dad got under the dashboard and cranked the thing up to 95 or so.  The alarm worked just fine.  Any time you got up to 95 the thing would warn you that you were going too fast.  

Duhhh!

It is an amusing story, but I had a point I was making.  I'll generalize it a bit, here.  We have all kinds of internal warning lights, bells, and buzzers that go off when we are moving in the direction of sin.  One that I have is a "Female skin alert!"  I have found that when a large amount of it is displayed, the likelihood goes up that I will descend into sin.  It is good when the buzzer goes off before I slide into mental iniquity.  The problem is the world in which I live is like Doc Merrell under the dashboard "cranking that thing up so it won't bother me any more."  

I need to recalibrate.  I need to consider the "specs" from God's word and I need the consultation of the Holy Spirit as I do so.  The list of warning lights/sounds on the dashboard of our mind is almost limitless, but I offer a suggestive list.

• A Hebrews 10:25 beeper
• A taking-my-wife-for-granted flashing-strobe.
• A tongue-outrunning-my-mind siren.
• A junk-in-junk-out warning light.

Like I say, my list is suggestive.  Whatever the warning system is that needs recalibrating in your life, open the Word, consult the standards, make a date with Holy Spirit, so He can look over your shoulder, get your screwdriver, and set that alert so it will actually do some good.

 

It's STTA.

 

 

 

On our website, covingtonbblechurch.com, put your cursor over the "Devotional and Study Aids" tab and select "Thirty Days of Praying the Names and Attributes of God."  Follow the link.