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We’re in Driver’s Education mode at our house. Two of our kids are fairly new drivers, one will soon be sitting behind the wheel. Parents know that the number one command to a new driver is what?—“ Slow down !” Kids may get tired of hearing it, but wisdom merits its repetition.

What’s true in driving is also true in life. When life is going in a bad direction, a whole line of people ignore the warning, stick the pedal to the metal, and drive over a cliff. Too many times I’ve stood at the bottom of some ravine where someone ran the guardrail in their life and everyone around them is devastated.

Today’s challenge is neither an encouraging or instructive message—it’s a warning. Some of you are driving way too fast. You’re not dealing with some unresolved issues in your life and you’re headed for the cliff.

That’s the warning Herod needed to heed in Mark 6. Herod had some serious unresolved issues in his life yet he loved to hear John the Baptist preach. At every opportunity John would warn him of consequences but Herod would just sit there, amused. Maybe in a moment of honesty he would have said, “I know I should deal with it but I’m just too busy.” Herod’s story ended very badly as you can read about in Mark 6:14-20.

Now I’m not particularly concerned about Herod; he’s already in eternity. But we’re all still here, and we have choices to make. Please hear this as a warning if it applies to you:

If there’s a conflict in your marriage, begin to deal with it today.
If you’ve got a son who has the wrong friends, deal with it today.
If you’ve got a secret sin that’s persisting in your life, deal with it today.
If the backdrop of your spirituality is a lot of defeat, shame, and frustration, and your spiritual life is really just a façade, could I plead with you? Deal with it!
If you have a bitter, unforgiving spirit toward someone, and there’s hatred in your heart—please, deal with it!
This is a hard word but please hear my heart. If you stay in that in-between place, the time is coming when you will choose the wrong. I’ve seen it in my life and in helping others; when that moment comes we think we’ll step on the brakes, but instead we say, “I’m doing it,” and we hit the gas and over the edge we go.

Slow down and ask for God’s discernment and courage to heed the warning signs.