There have been many stories in the news lately about self-driving cars. All of the auto manufacturers and even some other companies such as Google have them in development.  Some accident avoidance features have already been incorporated in current models.  There have been stories about future commuters happily going back and forth to work while reading a book, reading emails, texting or other activities.  Of course, some drivers already do this. There have been some negative stories raising concerns about safety, including one about a fatal accident in Reddick involving a Tesla that was in quasi-self-driving mode at the time. I think that these safety issues will be solved, and the technology will advance to the point that self-driving cars will be far safer than current cars. But I think there will still be a large numbers of drivers that will be uncomfortable with their use.

I think the issue will be one of control; wanting to be in control is a widely held human trait. Air travel is by far the safest mode of travel, with the trip to the airport being the most dangerous part of a trip, but there are some who still refuse to fly because they don’t feel safe without being in control. I think it will be the same with self-driving cars.

In our spiritual life we are often the same; we want to be in control instead of God. We try to earn God’s love by our own efforts – our “works”.  It doesn’t work, and thankfully it doesn’t have to.  God’s grace is free; we only have to have faith in Him rather than ourselves.  To see how Paul describes the failure to find righteousness by depending on works (in the form of the Law), read Romans 9:30-32 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim

“What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.” Romans 9:30-32