Took A Wrong Turn!

I had to take some of the church kids up to youth camp yesterday, and a friend, Pastor David Reish from Colona went along with me to keep me company as well as allow him to see the camp we use. (David is new to our state.) We made it to the camp fine, and toured the camp grounds and got into the van to leave. We decided since we were that far across the state, we'd go a little out of our way to go to Value City, over in Ottawa. It really was not far out of our way at all, so why not?

First I should explain that I have a problem. When I am driving and I get to talking, I pay no attention to where I am, and I have found myself WAY off course in the past. Yesterday was no exception. I headed out in the right direction, and David and I began discussing the upcoming General Assembly for our church denomination, and the next thing I know, I see a road sign and I said, "How in the world did we get here!" We were almost to I-55, about 27 miles North of Bloomington. To make a long story short, we toured the northern half of Illinois yesterday afternoon. We saw some really interesting things happen in the weather that I have never witnessed before, and we had a great time talking and laughing, but all in all, I would rather that none of it happened. I wasted a day and a lot of gas!

This morning I was thinking about yesterday's events and I thought to myself, "that is a great illustration of how people stray away fromt he Lord." They point themselves in the right direction and take off, but then fail to pay attention to where they are going. They don't notice the signs. They don't realize how far they have gone, because they are so busy with other things, and then they look up and say, "How did I ever get here?"
Spiritually, it is vital that we pay attention to what is happening around us.
Peter said, "be sober" which means to be alert and aware. Many times we get so busy with all the "stuff" in our life that we just are not even aware of where the road is taking us and that we are so far off our intended path that is is very difficult to get back.
Yesterday when I saw how far I had gone, I decided to keep going on in that direction because it was such a long way back. I think many people do the same thing in their spiritual lives. They see how far they have gone and they think it is too far to go back. But with Christ, all we have to do is ask his forgiveness and repent (which means go the other way!) and we are back in right standing with God.

I know most of you who read this are walking the right path with Christ, but if you happen to read this and you have made a wrong turn and you think you have gone too far; turn back today. Don't go any further.
If you have never made that decision, can I tell you that it really is the easiest and best decision you will ever make, to admit that you are going the wrong way, and that you need the help of Jesus Christ to help you turn your life around and then stay on that course, following after him and his word. You won't be sorry.