A team of scientists from Stanford University is focused on taking fitness trackers up a notch. They are researching the use of wearable sensors that could be personalized to sense a person’s heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature and other biometrics. These wearable gadgets will be a kind of sophisticated “check engine light” for our health and medical well-being.

Wouldn’t it be great if God installed some spiritual “check engine lights” in the hearts of believers? Imagine a moment when we were overtaken with lust or anger or envy, the sensors would go off giving our wills an opportunity to over come our passions.

All of us that are impetuous would love a brief pause that such a sensor might provide. We would have a chance for a spiritual intermission, time for our hearts to engage and overcome our mouths or slow down our reactions.

Truth be told though, we already have such a spiritual diagnostic tool provided by the Lord.  It is our conscience controlled by the Holy Spirit. Our problem is that we run rough shod over those indicators and often insist on having our own way. Those spiritual blinking lights are just ignored.

Maybe this week is a great time for each of us to give heed to those flashing impulses God has installed in our hearts. We probably need to crank up our sensitivity to His nudges and be ready to respond to the spiritual “check engine lights.”

One way to accomplish that spiritual discipline is to regularly pray the words of Psalm 139. Towards the end of that psalm, David turns his attention to God and asks for a spiritual check up: “Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

I am pretty sure that a thoughtful and honest recitation of that inquiry will have the same results as heeding a spiritual warning sign. And we don’t even have to wear a sensor!