“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” John 8:31-32
I had time to get to where I needed to be in half an hour… or so I thought. Needing to just pinpoint the exact building, I typed in the address into my phone and hit ‘GO!’ I was instantly shocked! While I actually believed I KNEW where I was going, the map told me otherwise. But, now rushed, it was decision time. Could and should I trust google? TIC TOC!
I grew up in a world where I had to learn HOW to read a map, and then FIND one to read! If I needed to find a particular house in a particular city and I didn’t know how to get to either, I had to find an atlas and manually look up the city in a legend on a map for that particular state. Then.. I would have to find a city directory of STREET names and look the street up on that legend and triangulate the coordinates to find it. (you’re thinking, “what’s an atlas?”).
I remember having to go to AAA to find the maps for the particular location where I wanted to travel. It wasn’t uncommon to have 4 or 5 maps in the car at once. And if texting and driving is dangerous, you haven’t experienced trying to read a multi-fold map while easing down the road. Today it is much easier. I can look everything up in my phone, and simply listen as it tells me where to go along my journey. If only life were that simple.
It is Thanksgiving preparation time and I recall the “BELIEVE” slogan of the Macy’s Day Parade last year. ‘Believe’ is a VERY interesting word that we are discussing in Bible Study. It is a word that has so many meanings, that ‘believing’ I know the right one can be questionable. Because it is a word that Jesus used a LOT… I think it’s important to understand what He meant.
The verses today are quite complex. Not only do they contain the conditional ‘if-then’ statement, they show that there is a process that must be followed, in ORDER, to receive the ‘freedom’ that Christ promised. Like my experience yesterday, it is not only about the destination, but the journey as well. And BELIEVING I KNOW where I’m going, does NOT guarantee I will get there.
I learned that the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. When my sons went to sea, they told me that when traversing a globe, that statement is false! As I travel through this life I am learning that there are a LOT of things I THOUGHT I believed… that are wrong! They may sound good, but they can cause me to miss my destination by miles.
As we get into the HOLY-DAY season, I am committing my way to follow Jesus more closely, and to learn more about what He meant by what He said, so I can get where He wants me to go. Where are YOU headed, Pilgrim?
