I was on my way to Randburg the other morning. As I was plodding along in the traffic, I glanced at the car in the next lane, and noticed something very strange going on inside. The driver was bopping his head in time to the music from his iPod earphones!

“Well, what’s so strange about that?” you ask. Well, his wife was sitting aimlessly next to him, completely cut-off from the song in his ears.

“How do you know they were married?” you ask. Well, I assumed it was his wife, because they “looked” married, baby was in the car seat, and there was a “Baby On Board” sticker on the rear window.

He could have been talking to his wife, but instead he was in his own private music studio. They looked like two different planets who just happened to be in the same orbit! She stared aimlessly into space like a statue listening to the “Sound of Silence” and he could have been anyone he liked, from Kurt Darren to Marilyn Manson. The steering wheel was his stage, and he had taken the show on the road.

It made me reflect on two things:
1. Do I treasure the gift of life and the ability I have to communicate with my wife & family whenever we’re on the road? Do I use the gift of healthy communication to encourage Liesl consistently or am I so wrapped up in my own selfish pursuits? Marriage is about togetherness, sharing, intimacy, sweet moments, and enjoying the journey together. “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” (Hebrew 3:13)

2. How many moments do I crawl through the traffic of life, and yet fail to spend precious communion in prayer with God, through it all. Have I made God the invisible passenger on the front seat? He is waiting to bless, waiting to comfort, and waiting to listen. Paul challenges the Thessalonian believers (5:17-18) to “pray continually” and “to give thanks in all circumstances”. More often than not, we find ourselves caught up in our own worlds. We’re enthralled by the noises of day to day life, and completely unaware of His nearness. It’s no wonder that we move in step with the world, instead of “keeping in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). And yet all the while, God is waiting to fill us with joy in his presence and eternal pleasures await us, at His right hand. (Psalm 16:11)

Right there and then, I turned off my radio and spent the rest of the journey in precious fellowship with God. I am determined to spend more time with God, especially the busy traffic moments of life. I want to have God’s melodies ringing in my ears and live a life in harmony with His will! “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18) iPOD or iPRAY?