Follow The Map
"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear
away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." -- John Muir
My family and I don't see mountains very often, so when
we do, we love to hike mountain trails and see the beauty of God's creation
from the heights.
Recently, my wife and I, with two of our children, did
some hiking on the Rainbow Lake Trail on Signal Mountain near Chattanooga,
Tennessee. At the beginning of the
trail, we looked at the trail map posted on a sign. We determined that my wife (Patrice) and I
would take the shorter trail to Rainbow Lake and our children, Lacey and Jon
David, would take a longer trail to the same location.
We began our hike, came to the fork in the trail, and
split up to follow the two different trails with the intentions of meeting in
an hour or so in the designated location.
It would be several hours before we'd see one another
again!
Each of us would later reflect on some of the beautiful
sights that we saw while hiking, but for a while we became somewhat anxious
when our parties did not meet as quickly as we had planned.
Having reached Rainbow Lake and waited a while for our
children, Patrice and I decided to follow another trail to see some more
sights. We were relying on what we had
remembered from the map at the trailhead.
Once we climbed high enough in elevation, we were able to text our
children about our new plans. Our
children, also relying on what they remembered from the map, agreed to meet us
at Edward's Point.
To make a long story short and a short hike into a long
one, my wife and I were heading south while our children were headed north!
After hiking for a couple of hours and finally figuring
out what we had done, Patrice and I gave up on our quest to find Edward's Point
and backtracked our way to our van.
Meanwhile, Lacey and Jon David figured out their location using their
cell phones and waited for us to pick them up at a road at the north end of the
Prentice Cooper State Forest.
We learned several lessons from our experience: consult
your map carefully (and take it with you!), don't give up, and communicate
well. We also experienced the joys of
being reunited!
There are many spiritual applications of our experiences,
too.
1. Set your sights
on the proper destination. Our sights
should all be set on heaven (see John 14:1-3).
2. Follow the Map
carefully. God's Word is a lamp to our
feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).
3. There is
tremendous joy in being reunited with your loved ones. The Apostle Paul comforted some Christians
with the knowledge of a great reunion with deceased loved ones in Christ when
Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Because of Jesus, we and our loved ones can look forward
to being reunited and live eternally in heaven with God (Romans 6:23). Jesus has made this possible by dying on the
cross for our sins (Romans 5:6-8).
Salvation, joyful reunion, and eternal life are promised to those who
follow the Map: Jesus. Jesus said, I am
the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through
Me" (John 14:6).
God will save and give eternal life to those who place
their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those
who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).
Won't YOU follow the Map (Jesus) all the way to heaven?
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