August 20, 2023
A good while back, Marie, her Mom, Aunt Margret, Uncle Sidney, and I were travelling to Marie’s childhood home in Eastern Kentucky. As long as we were on a main highway, the GPS system in my phone worked fine and we had no problems whatsoever as far as navigation was concerned. Getting Mrs. Kozy in and out of the SUV was another thing all together, but that has nothing to do with this story, I’m just relaying information. Unfortunately, as we got off the main road onto some backroads in the mountains of Kentucky, the GPS went haywire. Finally, we got on the right road and continued on our journey. We were all talking, laughing, and having a great time when, out of nowhere, we came upon a sign that read “Welcome to Tennessee”. The problem was, about an hour previously, we had passed from Tennessee into Kentucky. In other words, in seeing that sign, we found out we were lost and didn’t even know it. Had that highway sign not been there, we would have driven further and further from our destination. Turns out, we were making great time headed the wrong way! As I was reading Luke chapter fifteen about the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son, a couple of things occurred to me. First, the lost sheep wandered off on its own. The lost coin was lost through no fault of its own and the lost son was lost as a result of several poor choices. Second, our world is full of people who are in the same boat as we were on our trip. They are lost and don’t even know it. They are living a lifestyle opposed to God, headed for eternal separation from Him. The problem is, they don’t know it. They think they are fine, after all, many of them live “better” lives than many of the Christians they know, so they are blinded to the fact they are lost. What they need is a highway sign letting them know they are lost. Obviously, God’s word is that highway sign, but like many highway signs are obscured by bushes and trees, making them hard to read, the highway sign that points to God has been obscured by spiritual blindness. That’s where we come into the picture. Just like we sometimes need to stop and ask directions when we find ourselves where we never intended to be, for someone who is lost spiritually, we are that person who gives directions and points them to Jesus. To borrow a phrase from an old hymn I used to sing when I was growing up, we may be the only Bible this careless world will read. Let’s be sure we are pointing folks in the right direction with our words and with our lifestyles. Let’s be sure we are pointing folks to Jesus.
Be blessed and be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
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