Course Corrections

Whether riding a bike or driving a car, there are countless course corrections required as to navigate along the correct route.  Slowing for speed humps, avoiding debris, and changing lanes require minute adjustments to navigate roads safely.  Paved roads are often marked with bright and reflective paint so lanes are clearly delineated.  There can also be reflectors glued to the road that make an audible noise and physical sensation to notify a driver they are exiting their lane and entering another one.  On long stretches of highway it is not uncommon to have grooves cut into the bitumen that make a loud sound (kind of like a TIE fighter in Star Wars) to warn drifting drivers they are heading off the road.

One thing I considered recently was how God established more boundaries that delineated crossing into sin as time went on.  Adam and Eve only had one prohibition, and that was not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden.  After the flood God established the murder of human beings as a sin to be avoided and also made man responsible to administer justice on murderers.  It was not until after the children of Israel came out of Egypt that God gave them the Law of Moses and the 10 Commandments that dealt with the proper worship of God and commands to avoid the sinful sexual conduct that was rife among the nations.  History shows mankind's natural inclinations are always to do what God reveals later to be sin, and God's people were to heed His commands rather than follow the downward spiral to ruin that we observe in this world.

Those who have repented of their sin and turned to Jesus by faith have made a huge course correction in their lives.  Christians are people whose lives were headed straight to hell who have been born again by  faith, and now our life consists of trusting and obeying Jesus.  As we have been spiritually changed within, this transformation should be reflected in our decisions.  During our Christian pilgrimage, we can be faithfully following Jesus and still daily course corrections are needed.  This change of direction may not be as overtly drastic as when we first came to Christ, but these intentional adjustments are just as important to maintain fellowship with Christ.  In driving, small course corrections are the difference between hitting those bumps and steering back to the centre of the lane or careening off the road and ending up in a ditch.

Paul said by experience in 1 Corinthians 6:12:  "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."  There were things Paul did that he discovered were not helpful, even things that began to bring him under the power of something or someone other than the Holy Spirit.  This required an intentional course correction, to steer his life back into the centre of God's will.  He later wrote in the same epistle in 1 Corinthians 10:23:  "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify."  Not everything that was lawful or appropriate for Paul to do was helpful or edifying.  By God's grace he recognised habits and pursuits that were not building him up in faith and godliness.

As born again Christians, it is good for us to consider what small course corrections God would have us implement in our lives when we realise a good thing can be taken too far, we have drifted from seeking the LORD, or our priorities are out of line with God's will.  Instead of looking through the lens of whether something is legal or lawful, it is better to consider whether our food, drink, sex life, a habit or activity is helpful, brings us under its power or edifies us.  Repentance from sin shouldn't be narrowly viewed only as a 180-degree turn from sin but even a one-degree course correction to turn from what is becoming or has become sin for us as the Holy Spirit guides us to walk righteously.