The Road

These are a few phrases that many have uttered over the years, some will be familiar and some may not, depending upon how old you are.

“The road less traveled”, “On the road again”, “The long and winding road”, “King of the road”. And I’m sure you may have made up a few of your own.

As I have had opportunity to travel the country, I have often said, “I should stop there some day and look around”. I keep driving by places of interest saying those same words, or just wondering when I will have time to stop and look around.

Some of my thoughts and writings will overlap from time to time, so please bear with me. A classic Country song was titled, “The Class of ‘57”. It was done by the Statler Brothers and the basis of the song was that when we graduated high school, we thought we had arrived and the world had been waiting for us to arrive. But as time went on things just seemed to be the “same old same old”. Friends were married and divorced, the guy who was voted most likely to succeed got hooked on drugs, some worked in the factory, some became bank vice-presidents. And others seemed to have a very “ordinary life”. A few, if any, became famous for one thing or another, but for the most part, life kind of swallowed us up, we became middle class.

Let me say, there’s nothing wrong with being middle class. But, also let me say or ask, “What happened to those dreams”? Did stuff get in the way? Did we get hooked on something that stole our lives away? Did we get hurt by someone that changed our way of thinking? Did we get hardened by this cruel viciousness of life?

Don’t you wish you could have a “do over” a “mulligan” (for you golfers), like I described in Playing Games, “at the end it all goes back in the box”. The next time you play, you start out at even and build your way up. All the players have the same amount and the even opportunities to “roll the dice”, “shuffle the deck and deal the cards”, and “spin the spinner to advance”. Like the “box games”, there are rules to follow and believe me, some play by the rules more than others. They will read you the rules every 15 minutes, while others will try to break the rules every 15 minutes.

Then you have the “rules for the road”. You drive on this side and I drive on the other. Red is for stop and green is for go. Speed limits vary as to location, city, suburbia, country, highway or interstate, but rules are rules no matter where you find them.

So why do we get so uptight about the thoughts of absolutes? Jump off any 20 story building in normal clothing and you go down, it’s called gravity. If you stay out in the sun too long, you get sun burned. The North Pole is always cold and near the equator is always hot. Even though medicine is not an exact science, doctors use the accuracy of technology and what has worked to diagnose patients and treat them. Remember Bill Cosby’s, “Why Is There Air”, air is an absolute. If you mix the molecules in any other form, you don’t have air. I could give pages and pages of things you would agree with that they have to be constant or absolute for your life to continue to exist, so I say there are absolutes.

Then why is it so hard to admit to spiritual absolutes? You say, “All religions lead to God”. There is a religion that states, “You can have more than one wife”. The Bible says, “One man, one woman until death”. Which is right? One religion says, “You need to stop, face their holy land, and pray three times a day”. The Bible says, “(of God) I hear your inner most thoughts”. Which is right? Most religions say that Jesus was a good man or even a prophet; others say He was an angel. The Bible says, “You are My Son, My Only Son”, again speaking from God’s perspective. Which is right?

My text is John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father (GOD) but through Me”. Sounds pretty narrow doesn’t it? Sounds almost absolute, doesn’t it?

Matthew 7:13, 14 Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it. For the gate is small, and the road is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

This Matthew passage goes along with my writing called “Lines and Dots”, if you didn’t receive it let me know and I will send it along. If all roads lead to God why do so many reject Jesus’ statement? In essence they are saying that all roads lead to God, except Jesus. Did you know that Jesus is the most controversial person in all of history? As you saw in Matthew, the road is narrow that leads to life, and few are they who find it.
There will be scores more of people in hell than will be in heaven, maybe 100 to one, or even more.

Remember the phrase, “Well, everyone is doing it”! And the response was, “Well, if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you jump too”? That’s what it will be like in making a decision not to explore the claims of Jesus more seriously for yourself.

Believe it or not you are on a spiritual journey; that too is an absolute. I’m going back to music again; a song entitled Sacred Journey by the group First Call goes like this:

Wide awake at three a. m., when I hear the whistle blow,
Watchin’ all the cars go by, where does everybody go?
Every road, every stream, You are there my Lord.
Heavens mystery, how You are here with me,
On this sacred journey.

Open the gates of your heart (on this sacred journey)
Let the light into the dark (on this sacred journey)
He’ll meet you right where you are.

Spillin’ thoughts across the page, morning sun is sneakin’ in,
Say a little prayer for me, as another day begins,

Strength to strength life goes on, room to room, dark till dawn
You are there my Lord, Heavens mystery,
How You are here with me, on this sacred journey.

The message is in the words, the passion is in the music.

Are you awake in the middle of the night? He may be calling you to search for Him. Do you wonder about all the cars (people) rushing here and there, why some drive so fast and reckless. He is here, do you see Him? Every sunrise, every step of life, He is waiting for you to call His Name, Heaven’s Mystery. One step and you can be on a “Sacred Journey”.

Recommended reading:

More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell… small book, easy read, told as a story.

Evidence That Demands a Verdict and More Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell… Full text book and reference book

The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel… medium read

And of course the Bible… start with Genesis and read Chapter 1 then go to the New Testament and read the Gospel of John Chapter 1. Go back to Genesis and read Chapters 1,2,3 and then go back to the gospel of John and read Chapters 1,2,3. Finish the Gospel of John and then start the Gospel of Matthew. Please read at you own timing and speed even if it is one chapter a day. Remember to always ask God to reveal Himself to you.

Maybe you should pull off the road you are on and at the next rest stop and get refreshed. Another familiar phrase is, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”.

If you need more help or encouragement, email me.

Thanks for letting me bend your ear,
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskew@aol.com

April 6th 2009