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There was an interesting story some time ago in an issue of Focus on the Family magazine about a man who bought one of those cars that had replaced warning lights with spoken instructions in a female voice. In a soft voice, his "little woman"—as he called her—would say, "Your door isn’t closed properly." "Your key is still in the ignition." "Your seat-belt isn’t fastened properly." On one occasion he recalled how the voice of his "little woman" said, "Your fuel level is getting low." The driver thanked her and figuring he had sufficient fuel to take him a further 50 miles, ignored the voice and kept driving. A few minutes later, his "little woman" repeated, "Your fuel level is low." The further he drove the more often his "little woman" repeated her warning.

Getting frustrated, he stopped his car, searched under the dashboard, and found the appropriate wires. One quick jerk and his "little woman" was silenced. Imagine the "grin"; that is "cha-grin" on his face when, a few minutes later his car spluttered and jerked to a standstill—out of fuel. One could almost imagine the grin on his "little woman’s" face too We all have a little voice within. It’s called the voice of conscience. It can get very annoying at times, and sometimes we "pull its wires." Too late we discover we have run out of fuel.

* Why is it that we have such an aversion to following instructions? Men are well-known for reading the instructions when all else fails.

* With our resistance to reading and following instructions in our physical lives is it any wonder that we do the same in our spiritual walk?

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