Where Are The Gauges?

On my way to the church building today, a little yellow light in the shape of a gas pump caught my eye. I had not looked at the gas gauge in a while, and my fuel was very low.

Because of this quick warning from my car, I was able to stop for fuel immediately. I avoided the embarrassment and hassle of running out of gas.

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The Need for Spiritual Gauges

It would be great if we had spiritual gauges to warn us of dangerous behaviors. Imagine if:

• A red light flashed to warn us to calm down when our frustration and anger started to grow.
• An alarm sounded right before we said something unkind, gossiped, or lied, bringing us to our senses.

In fact, we do have gauges. Our conscience and the Bible help us detect when something is wrong in our lives. A conscience trained in the Word of God warns us when we are failing to do what is right, or urges us to obey God’s commands.

The Danger of Ignoring the Warnings

Sometimes, we ignore the warning signals.

My wife Cindie and I once had a van with a “Check Engine” light that stayed on constantly. A mechanic assured us the warning light itself was the only problem. It made our passengers nervous, but we ignored it.

Of course, if a real danger had developed, we would have had no way of knowing. Eventually, the light stopped coming on because the bulb finally burned out.

Similarly, we can ignore our conscience. If we repeatedly ignore our conscience, its warning signals will fade and eventually fall silent.

Lessons from the Racetrack

Cindie and I once visited the Motorsports Hall of Fame at the Talladega Superspeedway. In the museum, we saw race cars from all eras.

A plaque on a modern stock car explained that the dashboard gauges are positioned so that, at optimal performance, all the dials point straight up. When traveling at speeds near 200 MPH, a driver cannot take their eyes off the track for long.

I noticed three gauges common in normal cars that were missing from these race cars:

• The speedometer
• The odometer
• The gas gauge

Why We Don’t Need a Speedometer

In a race, if more cars are passing you than you are passing, you are going too slowly. If you are leading, you are going fast enough.

As Christians, we do not need a speedometer. We gauge our progress by asking: “Am I doing what God expects of me?” Our language and actions should stand out positively from the ungodly world around us.

Jesus preached this standard:

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (religious leaders known for strict but hypocritical rule-keeping), you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

Why We Don’t Need an Odometer or Gas Gauge

Christ set the pace for us by living a perfect life. While we cannot run a perfect race like He did, we can improve every single day. We must look to His example and run with endurance. We do not need an odometer because we must run at full strength until our lives end.

Finally, we do not have a gas gauge. We do not know when our time on earth will run out.

Because of this, we must live for God today, rather than putting off our best efforts for tomorrow. We do not know when our race will end, so we must make every moment count.