In need of an Alignment

Awhile back I noticed that the tires on my wife's car wearing down in a weird pattern.  Bald in one place and fine tread in another on the same side of the tire.  After some time researching online I decided I needed to take it to the local shop and see if they could correct the issue.  I watched as the mechanic put the car up on the lift and then stuck these funny Austin Powers type lasers to the wheels and then checked his computer.  Sure enough the front tires were out of alignment.
Think about it this way.  Wherever I point my toes is the direction my feet take me.  To the left, I head to the left.  Point them right and I begin to move right.  But if my left foot was facing left and my right foot was facing right I would be hard to walk a straight line.  The left side of my body would want to track left and the right, right - I'd be heading in two different directions at the same time!

David made a similar discovery about his life in Psalm 86.  He prays, "train me God to walk straight; then I'll follow Your path..."  It's important to to walk straight if you want to follow God.  But it's so easy to get sidetracked in your life and pulled in different directions.  Children, Spouse, School, Career these can begin to take us off in different directions, maybe not completely at first, just pulling you away.  It becomes harder to find the time to get to church, read your Bible or pray because there are so many other things that are fighting for your attention and direction.  And being pulled in two different directions causes problems, life gets bumpy and rough.  It becomes increasingly difficult to stay on the road.  And if you don't get that spiritual alignment fixed you're headed for a blow out!

That's what the car was doing, fighting itself as we tried to drive straight down the road, each tire trying to pull the whole car in the direction it was pointing.  It was drivable but the car shook a lot and would have eventually worn clear through the tires perhaps causing a blowout and maybe an accident affecting others as well!

So David prays that he would walk straight and the way he is able to do that comes from the second part of his prayer, "put me together, one heart, one mind; then undivided I'll worship You..." That's what church, bible reading and prayer are supposed to do, put lasers on our life to make sure that everything is lined up, heart and mind, so that your whole body tracks together to keep you on the path God has laid out for you.

Maybe it's time for a spiritual tune up in your life.  Perhaps you've already noticed that things are getting worn and your life is getting rough.  It's time to get things lined up and tracking together.  Get your heart and mind squarely focused on God and His will for your life and things will start to move smoother for you and you may even avoid that spiritual blowout.