Autopilot

You can only follow your GPS for so long before it tells you to go backwards down a one-way street, insists you can drive through that construction, or demands that you make a U-turn right now when you really just want to get off the interstate to fill up the gas tank.  In these sorts of situations, it becomes apparent that we cannot follow Siri's leadership, no matter how certain she is of herself.

Often times, we have similar complications in life.  We are operating on autopilot, so numb to the world around us that we don't even really notice as the time slipping away.  Content with our ability to sit back and relax while someone else makes the difficult decisions, we forget that we do have the option of manually overriding the system.

When we chose to make this decision, our eyes are opened to a whole new world around us.  We see the beauty, meaning, and significance in everyone and everything.  Each night, you can let the day slip away with the peace of knowing that you lived it to its fullest.  Life becomes intentional.  You mean what you do and you know why you do it, nothing "just happens."

How do we make the change from autopilot to manual?  We need the operator to flip the switch.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus is constantly healing the blind, the mute, and the lame.  Today, he can do the same for us.  He can heal us of the blindness that causes us to miss the suffering we pass every day, the muteness that strikes us when we should be speaking out against injustices, and the lameness that prevents us from taking actions to meet the needs that surround us.

How does he do this?  He starts with the core of who we are... our heart, our soul, our very being.  When God changes our hearts, we will soon find the urge to remain in autopilot is fading.  We will be new people; people who are intentional about their lives and the way they treat others.

In the words Paul, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

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