After almost twenty years, an older man who lives near me got a new car. It has, he smilingly told us, all the bells and whistles. Imagine just how much has changed in twenty years! One of the features his car now has is a lane departure warning. This man has always considered himself a very good driver. He thought he always stayed in his lane very well. However, his car was telling him otherwise. After a few days of what felt like constant beeping, he turned off the lane departure notification.
Hearing him tell his story was quite amusing! But the more I thought about what he said, the more I began to relate it to the gospel. We may consider ourselves very good at living the gospel. But if we had a covenant path departure warning, how often would it beep? Have we become a little lax in the routine but important things that keep our lives centered on Christ? What if an unkind word caused a beep? Or a forgotten prayer? Or missing an occasional church meeting? Or being too busy to attend the temple? Or a hundred other things?
We actually do have something that warns us if we are drifting off course, even if it is ever so slightly! When we are confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost—the promise of the constant companionship of a member of the Godhead—our own spiritual lane departure warning system. However, this warning will not be a loud, annoying beeping sound, but a still, small voice.
Last year, President Russell M. Nelson reminded us, “It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now. In the Godhead, the Holy Ghost is the messenger. He will bring thoughts to your mind which the Father and Son want you to receive. … I renew my plea for you to do whatever it takes to increase your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation. Doing so will help you know how to move ahead with your life, what to do during times of crisis, and how to discern and avoid the temptations and the deceptions of the adversary.”1
There may be times when we might not like what the Spirit is telling us. Correction is seldom easy to receive. But the whisperings of the Spirit telling us we may be drifting a little off course are protective warnings. Ignoring spiritual promptings is, in essence, turning off our spiritual lane departure notification. May we never be tempted to turn off the warning voice of the Spirit!
References:
1. Hear Him – Russell M. Nelson