Running a hands-free operation

I read signs and often find some rather interesting, if not outright funny. I saw one once on the back of a tractor-trailer saying something like, “We drive with lights on, hands-free and text-free.”

I’m sure we all understand that was a safety promise about the driver keeping his or her hands on the steering wheel rather than messing with a cellphone; however, when I saw that, my first thought was, “Look Mom! No hands!”

Most of us (guys, anyway) can remember yelling that the first time we rode our bike past the house after we learned how to ride without holding onto the handle bars. Remember, though, what happened when your friend called out to their mom about their hands-free bike-riding ability, only to hit the curb or storm drain or even a parked car and crash their bike because they were looking at their mom (this never happened to me on a bicycle).

Despite our claims of multitasking abilities, our mind can only do one cognitive act at a time, and switching back and forth from listening to the radio and watching the road increases our response time. We really cannot serve two masters at the same time (Matthew 6:24). Additionally, although ground speed has no effect on response time, it does have an effect on the amount of time we have available to respond, which is why speed limits and the three-second following rule are so important. Exceeding the speed limit also interferes with our ability to have God as our master because we cannot serve God and break man’s laws at the same time (Romans 13:1-5; Hebrews 4:13; when you speed, consider your Christian example and that God is watching, not to mention your safety and that of others).

Anyway, this article isn’t necessarily about our inability to serve two masters, although, when our mind isn’t where it’s supposed to be, we’ve made a choice to follow a master other than him to whom we belong (1 Corinthians 6:20; Romans 6:15-19; 12:1-2; Luke 9:57-62; Colossians 3:1-17; Hebrews 12:1-3). Colossians 3:1 begins with, “Since you have been raised with Christ,” which means the message is for Christians. Colossians 2:9-13 tells how one is raised with Christ through baptism to become a Christian (Romans 6:3-5).

Colossians 2:20-23 says to no longer live by the world’s rules, not meaning those duly instituted by government, but things that lead to sin or rules devised from misguided piety that distract us from following God (Matthew 15:7-14). The Israelites kept looking back to Egypt after God had miraculously rescued them and provided for their needs in the wilderness and, as a warning to us, things didn’t work out well for them (1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Hebrews 3:7-14; 2:1-4; 6:4-12; 2 Peter 2:20-22). So we must be careful how we follow God and not let ourselves become distracted either by the pleasures of sin or religious rules not instituted by God (Hebrews 11:24-26; Colossians 2:6-8; Matthew 7:21-24; 13:18-23).

Remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:22-33)!

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]