Where Are You Headed?

Where are you headed?  Dave was asked the same question.  Read Keith Wishum’s account of Dave’s experience:

Dave was going the wrong way.  But, he didn’t know it.  He was making great time and was enjoying himself, and he was sure he was headed the right way.  On the Appalachian Trail, hiking to a place called Peck’s Corner, Dave rounded a corner and found five men resting on a boulder by the trail.  There was the inevitable, “Where are you headed?”

When Dave answered, “Peck’s Corner,” the conversation stalled.

“Peck’s Corner is the other way,” one of the five finally said.  “That’s where we’re going.”

“No, no, it’s this way,” insisted Dave, pointing up the trail ahead of him.

In unison, five heads shook in disagreement.  Five to one said Dave was wrong, but he still wasn’t convinced.  Until he finally consulted his compass.

That settled it.  The compass made it clear.  Dave was going in the wrong direction.  He had been hiking for hours, going uphill, moving steadily away from where he needed to be.

In Dave’s defense, he had fallen earlier that day and got up dazed and disoriented and started walking.  Certain that he was still going the right direction, he hadn’t bothered to consult his compass.  That was a costly mistake.

Direction, not desire, determines destination.  It doesn’t matter where we want to go.  It’s our direction that determines the destination we reach.  That’s true, not just of hiking trails, but also of life’s travels.  And we all do what Dave did and get confused about our direction. *

So, where are you headed?

Jesus says that ultimately there are only two possible destinations: "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).

Are you headed for eternal life or for eternal destruction?

Wishum states: “It is a powerful temptation for us to assume that we’ll be safely guided by the way we were raised, what ‘everyone’ does, by what we’ve always heard, or by how we feel in our hearts, or even by what the preacher says.  None of those are reliable guides, however.”

We need to check our Compass, the Word of God.

The Compass says that the way to eternal life is through Jesus, God’s Son (John 14:6).  In order to access that narrow way that leads to life is to place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, we must continue to follow the Way by continuing to follow His Word (1 John 1:7).

Where are you headed?  Are you walking the narrow way that leads to life?  If not, it’s time to turn around.  Won’t YOU?

-- David A. Sargent

* “Going the Right Way” by Keith Wishum in A Word From Williams Road.  Keith serves as the Minister of the Williams Road Church of Christ in Americus, GA.

David A. Sargent, Minister