When you’re driving down the road you see many kinds of drivers.  Some are paying attention to what they’re doing, some are talking on phones or texting, or some may be eating.   I’ve seen women driving down the road putting on their makeup, and still others reading a book or paper while driving.  We call that “distracted driving”, because your full attention isn’t on your driving. And that’s dangerous.

But we as Christians are often guilty of “distracted driving” as well, in that we don’t keep our eyes on the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and we get kind of careless with it.  While the Bible admonishes us to keep on the straight and narrow path, we recklessly play with temptation and deceive ourselves by thinking we are “wreck-proof”.  Well, just as even a second or two of distracted driving can cause a driver to be in serious trouble, and be in a serious wreck, don’t you think the same thing can happen in our spiritual life?

Liken it to looking out over a cliff.  As long as you stay behind the guard rail, you’re safe.  But suppose you want a closer look so you climb over the rail and walk out closer to the edge.  Well, so far so good, so you decide to walk out a little closer, all the way out to the edge for the best view.  Only you didn’t know the edge was just about to break off anyway, and your added weight was……

Ooops! Now you’re a second away from a close up view of the bottom of the cliff.  In those last fleeting seconds you wish you’d stayed behind the guard rail, but it’s too late now.  The last thing you hear are your own screams and perhaps the sound of breaking bones.  But your fate could have been avoided had you stayed in the safe place.  If you’ve ever been in an accident, perhaps you know everything goes into slow-motion and you see every frame clearly.  In 1973 I was in a motorcycle accident and was hit by a car going very fast, which was being chased by a police car.  One second it was not there, the next second it was and when I saw it about six feet from me, everything went slow-motion and it looked like I had all the time in the world to get out of the way.  I remember every detail of it to this day. But I didn’t have time to react much and it was over in an instant.
Well, if you are right with God and you are in an accident, well and good.  But do you seriously think there will be time to get right with Him between the time you recover from your moments of distraction to the time of impact, and perhaps the end of your life?

That is why it is so very important to STAY on the straight and narrow path in the first place.  If you have your eyes on the prize of salvation in Christ Jesus, then when the opportunities of distractions present themselves, you won’t be taking the bait.  Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “I’m ok with God, He isn’t going to let anything happen to me, because it is written that He will give His angels charge over me to bear me up lest I dash my foot against a stone.”  Well, friend, I’ve been to the funerals of Christians who died in wrecks, whom I hope had their eyes on the prize, but only God knows if they were driving their “spiritual vehicle” distracted, or if they truly were focused upon God every moment of the journey every day.

The point I’m trying to make is this:  If you’re alive and reading this, you have the unique opportunity right now to take time to MAKE SURE you’re right with Christ Jesus.  Don’t guess, don’t put it off, and don’t dismiss it as “I’ll take care of it when I get time”.  TODAY is the day of salvation, and while God has granted you grace to seek Him, do so while He may be found, because it only takes a second of distraction before you could find yourself being too late to get on the road to everlasting life in Christ Jesus, or getting BACK on the road to Him.

Maybe some of you WERE on the road, but have let life’s distractions lead you astray to  detours and dead ends, and maybe now you’re so busy dealing with the potholes you haven’t taken the time to stop and remember your GPS, which is “GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION” and remember from whence you’ve strayed.  I tell those who have back-slidden, “SLIDE BACK!”  God has not abandoned you or kicked you out of His household.  But even little “harmless” distractions are cumulative and before you know it, you have shut God out of your life entirely.

Oh, you wouldn’t just walk away from God, you’re too smart for that.  But the devil has a way of presenting you with “harmless distractions” that will keep you busy doing things that will not build your relationship with God.  And once you’re tied up dodging potholes, you will find yourself too busy to get back on the road that leads to everlasting life.  BUT, if you keep your eyes on the prize constantly, you will not miss the sign that says “Bridge out ahead” or “Dead end”, or “Dangerous curves ahead”.  And you will not be taking chances that can be your undoing, either.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
So, friends, keep your eyes upon the prize, and you won’t end up in the ditch, or worse.