An Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at Creekwood  

Which Road?

Walter Knight told of an old Scottish woman who went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. 

One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked. "Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the LEFT, and I want to take the road on the RIGHT." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!*

How can WE know which way to go?

FIRST: We must UNDERSTAND that “the way of man is NOT in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).  In fact, “there is a way that SEEMS right to a man, But its end is the way of DEATH” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

SECOND: We must USE the RIGHT map.  The Psalmist declared, “Your Word is a LAMP to my feet and a LIGHT to my path” (Psalm 119:105).  We must follow the directions as outlined in Scripture in order to reach the proper destination.

THIRD: We must MAKE a CHOICE (see Joshua 24:15).  God has revealed the way that we should go in His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  We, however, must CHOOSE to follow His directions.  Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

One of the biggest obstacles in following God’s will is our own SELF-WILL.  
We must have the attitude of Christ when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane as He faced the cross: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not MY will, but YOURS, be done."  We must not seek to manipulate His will to fit our own selfish desires, but “crucify” our own self-will and submit completely to the will of God.

It is God’s will that you and I be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).  He has made salvation possible through the GIFT of His Son, Jesus (Acts 4:12).  The Way of salvation is through faith in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), repentance from sin (Acts 17:30-31), confession of Christ (Romans 10:9-10), and baptism (immersion) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).  It is also God’s will that we continue to follow Him all the days of our lives (1 John 1:7).

Provision has been made / The directions are clear / The choice is yours!

God bless you!

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

* Today in the Word, May, 1989.

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