Road Trip!

Recently my family took our first vacation. Ever. My father wanted to see the D-Day Museum in New Orleans. I’ve visited Louisiana several times, and I’m familiar with driving in New Orleans. However, our hotel was in a part of town with which I wasn’t as familiar. I looked up the address online and printed out a map. I even bought a couple of maps to help us navigate the city, which has no true cardinal directions. (Everything is described as being upriver, downriver, riverside, or lakeside.) Unfortunately, the map leading us to the hotel wasn’t quite accurate.

Once we exited the interstate, we began looking for the hotel sign. We didn’t see it. I’m not saying we were lost, but we did see some interesting parts of the town (and you thought the French Quarter was scary.) I decided pull over at a gas station to call the hotel for directions. As it turned out, we weren’t too far away, but the hotel was on the west side of a canal…and we were on the east side. We crossed the drawbridge, followed the new directions, and arrived at the hotel (in a somewhat nicer section of town) just a few minutes later.

When I think about being a Christian, I remember that I have a destination: heaven. I also have a roadmap on how to get there: the Bible. Fortunately, this roadmap is guaranteed by God to be 100% accurate. Contrary to what some might believe today, that roadmap is just as good as it was 2,000 years ago. That is, the Bible is never out of date. However, it is my choice whether or not I follow the map. I can’t just follow the car in front of me and expect to arrive at my destination in New Orleans, nor can I expect to follow a person to heaven. I have to keep my eyes on the map. Similarly, I can’t take a surprise detour off the interstate, nor can I abandon the Bible and expect to arrive in heaven. I have to keep my eyes on the map.

Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV)

How’s your journey? I hope you haven’t hit any roadblocks or made any detours!