Mapping Out Your Course

Have you ever been lost?  I have!  On one occasion, I was part of a group that went hiking on a mountain trail in Northeast Georgia.  The scenery was breathtaking!  The view from the top of the mountain was worth every effort in reaching it.  But on the way down the mountain, we decided to take a different trail.  We walked and walked for miles, hoping that the trail would lead us to our proper destination.  The longer we walked, however, the more we realized that we were lost.  We had an appointment that evening, so time was of the essence.  We didn't have time to backtrack, so we kept walking, looking for familiar surroundings.  Then we found something that revealed to us not only where we were, but also where we needed to go to reach our proper destination.  It was a map!  If it weren't for that map, we might still be in those mountains!

Neal Pollard has made the following observations about a map:

1.   It cannot assist until it is consulted.

2.   It will not help those who ignore what it says.

3.   It is composed by those who know its subject.

4.   It can be misread.

          5.   It will yield the same directions for anyone who picks it up  
      and properly uses it.

6.   It completely allows for the free will of the user.

7.   It is meant to be practical rather than abstract.

8.   It has helped many successfully reach their final destination.

          9.   It is not meant to predict unexpected occurrences for the  
       traveler while it is in use.

         10.  It shows borders, boundaries, and what is both possible and  
      impossible in travel. *

These ten factors are especially applicable to the use of Heaven's 
Road Map, the Bible.  God's Word informs us that ALL of us are lost due to SIN (Romans 3:23; 6:23).  However, God's Word also reveals the way of salvation.  That Way is through a proper relationship with Jesus Christ, God's Son. 

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).  The Bible gives us the following directions to reach our proper Destination (Heaven): place your trust in Christ (Acts 16:31), repent of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confess the deity of Christ (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized (immersed) for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38).  

Then we must continue to follow Heaven's Road Map for the rest of our lives, being careful not to "veer off course"  (1 John 1:7).  We must continue to follow that narrow and difficult way which leads to life everlasting (Matthew 7:13-14).

The Psalmist declared, "Your Word is a LAMP to my feet and a LIGHT to my path" (Psalm 119:105).

The RIGHT course has been "mapped out"  for ALL.  Will YOU consult the "Map"  of God's Word, and follow Jesus all the way to Heaven!

God bless you!

David A. Sargent, Minister 

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

* Neal Pollard is a minister of the Cold Harbor Road church of Christ in Mechanicsville, VA, and the author of "Daily Bread," a Bible-based daily e-mail publication.  See www.Cold-Harbor-Road.org

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