When You Get Off Course

Yesterday my wife got off work early so we decided to spend the afternoon in Peoria and to have dinner there. We stopped by to see our son for a few minutes where he works, went to Bass Pro Shop and then went down to spend some time on the riverfront. I took her down to see my favorite "escape" spot which I had never shown her before, and then decided to drive across town because I wanted to pick up something from Schnuck's grocery. Rather than hop back on the Interstate I decided to take the route through town, which I had not done in probably at least 4 or 5 years. I figured I could find the way and started out heading the right direction. Now, I should explain that I have a problem, in that when I am driving and I get to talking, I pay no attention to where I am going. In the past, and I have found myself WAY off course. I mean like 40 miles off course  in the past. Yesterday was no exception. I headed out in the right direction, and Libby and I were just talking about school, the church and life… and the next thing I know, I see a road sign and I think to myself, "How in the world did we get here!" I knew exactly where we were  but I had no idea how I had gotten there because as I was pre-occupied, I had simply gone another way, nowhere near where I had intended to go. We were not in a hurry at all and were just enjoying the day, but the point is, we'd started out going one way and ended up somewhere else.  

This morning I was thinking about yesterday's events and I thought to myself, "that is a great illustration of how people stray away from the 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 it 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. In fact, we changed our plans as to where we were going to have dinner, rather than turn 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. Yesterday, I simply spoke into my phone, "Siri, get me directions to Schnuck's" and then followed the directions she gave, which lead me right back to where I needed to be. If you are off course, rather than call out to Siri, why don’t you just call out to Jesus. He is ready, willing and able to get you back on course, headed in the right direction and to deliver you to your appointed destination.

If you have never made that decision before, to call on Jesus… 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. Try Jesus! You won't be sorry!