Check Under the Hood

I bought my first car for two simple reasons: it looked good and it ran fast.

When it ran, that is. Much of the time it just sat there, looking good.

Turns out that car was a mechanical train wreck. If I wasn’t working on it, my mechanic was. Brakes, air, electrical, front end — you name it, I had trouble with it. Barely a year after I bought the car, the engine blew on the interstate and left me and a buddy stranded. My dad finally sold it for the price of a new set of tires.

After that, I learned to take a good look under the hood before buying a car. Not just a peek, either, but a thorough inspection. Because no car looks good sitting on the side of the road.

Lots of things in life are like that: they look great at first appearance, but they really aren’t what they seem. If you embrace them without carefully evaluating them first, you could end up stuck with something far worse than a crummy car.

Take marriage, for instance. That young lady may be as sleek and curvy as a Corvette, and that young man may promise the luxury and comfort of a Lexus, but can you count on them for the long haul? Better check under the hood. Is he/she a Christian? Is he/she devoted to the Lord’s teaching about the requirements of marriage (Ephesians 5:22f; 1 Corinthians 7:1-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7)? How about parenting (Ephesians 6:4; Titus 2:4-5)? Is he/she ready for a lifelong commitment (Malachi 2:14-16; Romans 7:1-3; Matthew 19:4f)? Get solid answers to those questions before you even think about saying, “I do.”

The applications are virtually endless. A lot of misery has come from people jumping into things without looking at them closely enough. That can also lead to misery in eternity. We have to learn to look beyond the here and now, to evaluate how every choice will affect our lives — and our souls — down the road. Before you make that purchase, join that group, marry that person, take that job, move to that area, believe that idea, practice that habit, or anything else, better check under the hood.

“Examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).