What I learned - Careful versus Casual

 

 

by Becky Craven

 

 

"We have a dear friend who was a train engineer. One day while he was driving a train on his route, he spotted a car stopped on the track ahead of him. He quickly realized that the car was stuck and unable to cross the track. He immediately put the train in emergency mode, which engaged the brakes on each boxcar that extended three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) behind the engine, carrying a load of 6,500 tons (5,900 metric tons). There was no physical chance that the train would be able to stop before it hit the car, which it did. Fortunately for the people in the car, they heard the warning of the train whistle and escaped from the car before the impact. As the engineer spoke with the investigating police officer, an angry woman approached them. She shouted that she had seen the whole incident and then testified that the engineer did not even try to swerve out of the way to miss the car!

Obviously, if the engineer had been able to swerve and leave the tracks to avoid an accident, he and his entire train would have been lost in a derailment and the train’s forward progress would have come to an abrupt stop. Fortunately for him, the rails of the tracks on which his train ran kept the wheels of the train snugly moving toward its destination regardless of the obstacle in his way".

 

We have the same opportunity to keep moving forward toward our own eternal destination.  There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything.  Are we careful about the way we live the Gospel?  Or are we casual in our own beliefs.  This talk made me focus on perhaps changing some things in my own life that I have come to be a little bit casual about. 

 

John 14:15  “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

 

Perhaps we should be a little more careful about keeping His commandments and a little less casual about the process.  Am I careful about keeping the Sabbath day holy?

Am I careful about my tithing?

Am I careful about my words and deeds?

Am I careful about serving others?

Am I careful about reading the scriptures or saying my prayers?

In other words, am I careful about the more important things in life, or am I casual in those pursuits?

 

Deep and lasting happiness comes when we intentionally and carefully live the gospel of Jesus Christ.