Cruise control

The button lurks much lower than the dash proper, all the way off to the left below the level of the steering wheel, almost out of comfortable reach. When in use, the center glows green, and a corresponding indicator glows on the dash panel.

Because my commute is so short (and the traffic so heavy), I rarely have the opportunity to use the cruise control.  But when I do - like yesterday - it is almost possible to forget that you are hurtling down the road encased in two thousand pounds of metal.  A tap on the buttons on the wheel speeds you up or slows you down with minimal effort.  Miles roll by without any thought at all.

On a long stretch of clear highway, that can be a good thing.  In life, however, it helps to click "cancel" on the cruise control every so often to stop and evaluate your direction.

Don't get me wrong; life is good. I've a well-paying, interesting job in an environment that provides quite a bit of freedom (and a very generous vacation and benefit package).  My health is good, as is that of the people I care about.  God is stretching and growing me, providing unexpected places and ways to minister on His behalf.

But I have an opportunity now to reinvent myself, change direction entirely, or partly, or not at all.  More than at any time in my life I've the freedom to choose my path.

The fact is, however, that my life is not truly my own to arrange as I will.  Every breath I take is due to God's mercy, and all my days belong to Him, to bring Him glory and praise.  How well am I accomplishing that?

A while back I posted a video of a Matthew West song called "The Motions".  The chorus is the part that stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it:

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

So - how much of life passes by on cruise control, with minimal effort, and how different would it look if I had given everything in service to my Savior?