Finding the Right Path by Martin Wiles

My wife, younger brother, and I were off for a three night four day camping trip in North Carolina’s Great Smokey Mountains. So we conjured up Siri on our cell phone and asked for driving directions to our destination. We arrived late afternoon but found the campground office closed. After finally locating the hosts and requesting information, we were told we were at the wrong campground. They suggested one a little farther down the road with the same name. Here we received the same story. Wrong  place. The host suggested yet another campground farther down the road, again with the same name. After three attempts, we finally discovered the campground where my wife had made reservations. This wasn’t the one we preferred, but evidently I had given her an incorrect reservations number. Finding the correct campground was essential. Had we camped at the other two, we may well have been fined. That they seemed like the correct ones mattered not. 

Locating the right path in life is similar. There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. (Proverbs 16:25 NLT)

Several routes were available to reach our intended destination. Many locations have various paths of arrival. Not so with God. Multiple paths may be attempted, but Jesus said only one would actually lead there. And he was it. Whether I like the course…or prefer it, doesn’t matter. I don’t make the final decision. God handles that. 

The life path I’d most prefer would be littered with good works, abundant possessions, loose living, and easy travels. While Jesus offers abundant life, his definition rarely includes any of the previous. Jesus’ way involves a cross, numerous valleys, and normally only a small amount of the world’s goods. Yet in the end, the reward of following him will be greater than any temporary pleasure I might gain from the aforementioned. Finding just any path won’t do; I must uncover the right one. 

Have you discovered the right path to God and his abundance?

Prayer: Merciful Lord, point us to the path that’s best for us…not merely the one we might prefer. 

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