One of my favorite children’s stories was Hansel and Gretel. Not because it was about good overcoming evil. It was about the bread crumbs. The kids left a trail of bread crumbs. Even as a child, I could get lost in my own neighborhood. Study courses on memory improvement haven’t helped. My mind is like a steel trap; once information is inside, it can’t get out.
Whenever I go anywhere, I always mentally mark my path and then allow an extra 30 minutes to anticipated travel time to get “unlost.” The most useful method of getting back on track is to turn around and go back to where I started from. So simple and it works every time.
First, I have to admit I’ve gotten off track, then, I go back to where I lost my way. Once back on the right path, I can hold my head high because I chose to start over instead of continuing in the wrong direction. Pride doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is that I make my way home before I get hurt.
In our Christian walk, it’s the same way. Every now and again, we realize that somehow, we’ve gotten off track. We look around us and discover “this” isn’t where we intended to be. No body ever wakes up one morning and makes a conscious decision to stop serving God. It’s a gradual process, made one casual decision at a time.
We get caught up in our daily activities and serving God is what we intend to do—but—first, I have to do this, be here, go there–. Tomorrow, I’ll start doing my devotions again. This Sunday, I’ll start going to church again. Each day, it gets easier to keep on our “new” road. In time, our new road is the familiar road and we look back less and less.
Right now, let’s stop and look behind us. Are we faithful in keeping our daily conversation time with God, do we fellowship with Godly people, does our lifestyle reflect Christ? Or can we look behind us and see we’ve slowly lost our way? If so, turn around now, go back the way you came and get back on track.
Psalms 139: 23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me if I’ve lost my way. Give me a tender heart so I can hear the voice of your Holy Spirit and know how to keep my path straight. Help me to be aware of life’s little side trips so that I know to keep my eyes on you. I love you. Amen.