TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

I was driving by a church building the other day and saw an interesting statement on their marquee. It said, “Honk if you love Jesus; text and drive if you want to go meet Him.” I found this statement somewhat funny, but I also knew how true it is. According to statistics, texting and driving accounted for about 16,000 deaths from 2001-2007 (Yahoo News). Deaths involving phones went up 28% between 2005-2008 (ibid.), and I am sure these percentages have gone up even more. While this is not a soapbox of mine, I definitely see the importance of it.

While we are all probably very aware of the dangers of texting and cell phone use while driving, but why is this so dangerous? The problem is, the person texting while driving is not watching the road and definitely cannot react as fast. According to statistics, a person texting reacted about a second slower than even an intoxicated person. Compared to normal reaction time, for a person traveling 35 mph, this would mean traveling an extra 41 feet before reacting and stopping (MSN Auto). There is no telling what may happen in that distance, and that is only at 35 mph. For many people, that has been the difference between safety and a very serious car accident. So why is it so dangerous? It’s a distraction.

Distractions are incredibly dangerous. They cause us to not pay attention. They cause us to lose our focus. They can bring down our guard. They can result in serious disaster. This not only happens physically, it also happens spiritually. As we are traveling along as Christians, there are so many distractions. Just like driving, these distractions can cause us to lose our focus on Christ, to bring down our guard against sin, and most certainly will end in disaster if not corrected.

Back during the time of Jesus, Martha was dealing with distractions in her life as well. Luke 10:40-41 states, “But Martha was distracted with all her preparations…But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.'” Martha was distracted by her worries. She should have been focusing on Christ, but she was too worried and bothered about so many other insignificant things.

Like Martha, we too can be distracted by our worries and many other insignificant details. It is important to remember that, compared to Christ, any of these distractions are simply insignificant. If we are not careful, we too can be distracted and ultimately choked out by the worries, riches, and other distractions of the world (Matthew 13:19). Texting while driving is not only dangerous, but it is now against the law. However, something that is far more serious is getting distracted spiritually, and this is against God’s law. Let’s not only stay focused while we are driving, but more importantly let’s make sure we stay focused spiritually. Rephrasing the beginning quote, “Say ‘Amen’ if you love Jesus; get distracted by the world if you don’t want to meet Him.”

–Brett Petrillo