The Crossroads

I love road trips! I think you will agree that good driving directions are essential for successful road trip. Technology offers us some great options that promise to get us where ever we want to go. Google maps, auto navigation systems and Smart Phones easily do all the map work for us. But, even though our old AAA maps seem outdated we still like to keep one handy in our glove box just in case technology steers us wrong… and, it has!

Getting lost is never fun. It takes precious travel time to figure it out. Whether you’re just staring at the map or finding reliable local expert assistance time will be lost.

Life is like that sometimes too, isn’t it?

You find yourself steadily moving along and suddenly you’re at a crossroads. You pull right up to your own personal intersection of life and wonder “where the good way is?”

Crossroads are planted everywhere and they are unique to each individual, but what it all boils down to for each of us are the choices we make each day. And, really it’s about “who” we are making choices for.

We live in a fast paced, self-involved world and it’s spinning so fast most of the time that we are making decisions by the minute, sometimes without thought. And, because of this our own plans and selfish desires often make their way on to the path ahead.

Guess what? The crossroads are not there by accident.

They are reminders. Free supernatural moments handed down to us by our loving Creator causing us to stop and seek the ancient paths to find the good way… His way.

Standing at the crossroads, we put on the breaks to our own urgent agenda; remain still long enough to clearly see beyond ourselves for His way ahead.

So, what should we do at the crossroad?

Get out your road map… The Bible.  Just like the fold-up maps our Bible can overwhelm us at times, especially when we are feeling stranded and pressed for time. But, it’s the only way!

Seek expert assistance… godly counsel to confirm your new direction. God often gives us great wisdom through the people around us and we are wise to seek it.

Pray… Seek Him and test whatever advice you are given by others.

Just like on a road trip, pulling out the bible and seeking godly council will cost us precious travel time. More than that, pursuing Jesus first in our lives means we absolutely will lose our lives. But, in return we get to claim His promises…

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” 

Matthew 16:25

That motivates me... you?

The simple reminder that our eternal lives are at stake by not following Jesus gets my attention, but it's not enough and it's selfish thinking too. Don’t get me wrong our eternal lives are at stake and that should motivate us, but we ought to follow Jesus because HE is GOD and because we love Him desperately and so much more than our own life.

If we sincerely seek the good way it can always be found in the ancient paths… the old ways. That’s exactly why God gave us the Living Word, to guide us through this life. It may indeed be old, but as Ecclesiastes reminds us “there is nothing new under the sun.”

What we do at the crossroads determines whether or not we’ll find the rest that our souls are longing for.