Friday Reading: Isaiah 48:17
Key Verse: Isaiah 48:17
17 So says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the LORD your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
Devotion:
One thing that I have learned from the past few days is that if you want to be able to go on a long hike over a hill you have to take a map and you have to read that map regularly so that you know where you are! It is no use taking the map and leaving it in your bag because when you start to stray from the path that is when you need it, not when you have suddenly realised that you are completely lost. Fortunately my parents and cub scouts leaders had taught me to read maps when I was young. The first thing I bought was a map of the area so that I would not get lost...
Just because I did have the map did not mean that I did not take a wrong turn or two, but as soon as I referred back to the map I was able to find out where I was and decide whether it was better to back-track or to continue. Yesterday I was feeling good and decided to continue on leading for a walk that lasted a few miles more than I had anticipated... so today I take the short one!
We are very much like the hapless hiker in our lives and walk with Christ. We make snap decisions along the way and unless we are prepared and take God's Word with us, we will very quickly get lost along the way. It does not mean that we will fall down a cliff because we are not normally silly enough to take the short cut down the cliff! But it does mean that we are going to find that life’s journey may not be as smooth going as we thought it would be! All of us need guidance all of our lives. To think anything else would be plain dumb! Even if we do not like the way others think they know things, we must always rely on God's Truth all along the way. Right from the beginning God is trying to teach us the right way. As long as we are willing to follow His guidance we will find that we can thoroughly enjoy our journey through life with Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always seem to get lost?
Are you actually listening to God's advice?
