A Plain Path

 

Ten years ago, we had a cookout on Racoon Mountain.  TVA has a nice place with bathrooms, covered pavilions, ball fields, and hiking paths.  After lunch, I stirred up the kids to go on a hike.  Children need to burn off energy.  But what about me, the sixty-five-year-old?  I had no energy to burn off.  What was I thinking?!  So, I set off with my five grandchildren and the two Balta girls on an adventure.  But after a while, two-year-old Greyson became tired, and I started carrying him on my shoulders.  Soon, Bennett, the next youngest, began to complain, and the two older girls took turns carrying him.  Soon everyone was tired.  I was tired too, but I had to motivate everyone else.  We heard other hikers and saw them on a parallel trail going back in the direction where we had come from.  I led our group up through the brush to the new trail and we started back.  But everyone was already tired, and we had just turned around and had to hike back to the pavilion.  Poor planning on my part.  I had expected the trail to circle around but it just kept going further away.  It reminded me of David in Psalm 27:11, “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path …”  Often in life, we are confused and unsure of the best way forward.  The best plan is to depend upon the dear Lord to lead us in a plain path.  So, how do we find this plain path?  Well, that’s the exact question that Thomas had.  John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Pray for direction and pray for a plain path.

Peril

 

Peril is a great word.  It doesn’t mean that something bad is happening, it means that something bad might happen, if you aren’t careful.  When I was in elementary school, our family lived in a trailer park just off the four-lane highway, US 40.  The owner of the trailer park was Henry Freuling.  He had a big house near the trailer park entrance, a garden, and a chicken house.  Mr. Freuling had a rooster who “ruled the roost.”  This rooster watched for any incursion into his territory and punished the interloper with a flogging.  But, morning and afternoon, I had to walk to and from the school bus stop and walk past this rooster’s domain.  If I saw him coming towards me, I could stare him down and gain superiority.  But if I was careless and the rooster snuck up behind me, he had the upper hand … even though roosters don’t have hands.  So, here it is: every day, I was in “peril” of that rooster.  Hey, you are in peril every moment of Satan and his minions.  And Paul warns us in II Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”.  Paul doesn’t say we might be in peril, he said that we are in peril.  And Peter goes on to give us the secret to defeat the enemy in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Hey, today, Satan is after you!  He is not possibly going to cause problems; Satan will attach you and try to destroy you.  Yes, he will!  Our defense is to be serious (sober) and watchful (vigilant) for the adversary.  Don’t let Satan sneak up on you, like that old rooster did to me.  Be careful and vigilant and let the Holy Spirit fight for you.  And you if do, you will survive to fight another day.

A Wonderful Gift

 

I have an older neighbor (yes, it is hard to believe, but she is older than me) who is a sweetheart.  She brings us over cinnamon raisin bread because she knows my wife likes it.  She brought us homemade Chex mix for the holidays.  Yummy!  Her stepson lives in Racine, Wisconsin and visits her twice a year.  He is grateful that I look after his stepmother, but actually, she looks after me.  So, last week, we found a spiral-cut ham delivered to our house for Christmas. What a kind gesture!  Thank you, Jim!  I sent him a thank you note, but I wish that I could do more.  Just a thank you note seems a little underwhelming.  Sunday morning, our pastor said about a gift, “You don’t pay on it before you get it, and you don’t owe on it after you get it.”  Paul said of Jesus Christ in II Corinthians 9:15” Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”  And truly, Jesus Christ was the most wonderful gift of all!  Hey, enjoy the Christmas season, but be grateful to the dear Lord for “His Unspeakable Gift”!