Rumble Strips

June 12, 2023

Melissa Valerio

One of the things I appreciate on the roadways are those rumble strips on the shoulder. They’re meant to warn you that you’re wandering too far off the road and in danger of crashing into something. I haven’t needed them much, but I sure do appreciate them when I do happen to veer off. That’s much like our conscience. Meant to do the same thing, our conscience yells at us, alerting us we’re in danger of violating a moral law. The Word teaches us that God has given each of us a conscience. That little voice within our minds that helps guide us in the right direction. Isaiah put it this way “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left. ” Isaiah 30:21 (AMP). This is a blessing from the Lord! It’s meant to keep us sensitive to Him and the way He wants to lead us. We’re all born with a conscience, but it’s up to us to strengthen it.  

I think it would be a great tragedy if we lost our ability to know right from wrong. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created in purity, not knowing good from bad. As the story goes, they ate of the forbidden fruit, and their eyes were opened. And here we are today. But guess what? It can get even worse. Now that we know right from wrong, we can actually take ourselves further down the path of evil by disregarding God’s Spirit (conscience) so much that we permanently damage it. To the point that no bad thing effects our moral compass. 1 Timothy 4 warns us “But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, [misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning]” (v2-3 AMP) Enough wrong-doing can turn into a habit, which turns into a way of life. And at that point, you’ve ground the rumble strips down so far, they aren’t even useful anymore.  

Prayer: Lord in Heaven, guard our consciences and keep them sensitive to You. You are the ultimate standard by which all life is measured. We cannot do anything good apart from You. Please continue to guide our hearts and minds to You. In the name of Jesus, Your son, Amen. 

Action: We can never stop growing our consciences. One way to strengthen it is to confess any unconfessed sin to the Lord, so that He can wipe the slate clean. Then, commit to spending time daily in the Word of God. The more scripture you feed yourself, the more His spirit grows in you.