Prone to Wander

May 10, 2026

When I was a boy, my grandparents, brother, and I were fishing on the Tennessee River at Danville, near Erin. The fish weren’t cooperating that day, hence the term fishing on the Tennessee River and not " catching on the Tennessee River. My grandfather decided that we should leave Danville and drive to another fishing hole we often fished on the same river at New Johnsonville, near Waverly. As we were driving, Pa said, “I know a shortcut,” and he turned down a different road. We drove, and drove, and drove for what seemed like forever. My grandmother asked, “Are you sure you know where you are going,” to which Pa replied, “Of course I do.” So, we drove, and drove, and drove some more. FINALLY, we came up on a main road. We had not gone far down this road when we saw a sign that read, “Welcome to Tennessee Ridge.” Tennessee Ridge was only about 15 minutes down the road from Danville. As it turned out, Pa did NOT know a shortcut, and we spent quite a lot of time just wandering. The same thing has happened to me while I was driving, and I’m sure it has happened to you as well. All this pondering about wandering brought a bible verse to mind. “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him (Jesus) the sins of us all (Isaiah 53:6 NLT). Just as we are prone to wander off the right path when we are driving, we often do the same when we are navigating our spiritual journey. God says, “Go this way,” but we think we know a shortcut, so we go the other way. Before we know it, we realize we have drifted away from God. The good news is that is why Jesus died on the cross. He paid the price for our wandering (sinning). Unfortunately, we will tend to wander until the Lord is finished with us in this life. Thanks be to God that Jesus knows the way home.

Be Blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy