route 66

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Do you love to travel? Most of us probably do (at least we did, when we were allowed to move about freely). We love to visit unfamiliar places, discovering what’s special about that town, state, or country. But no matter where our adventures were taking us, we had to create a travel plan and map out the route to our destination. This used to entail reading paper maps (then figuring out how to refold them—can I get a witness?). Then, it evolved to looking up direction on the computer and printing them. Now, our smartphones not only pull up maps for us, but a programmed voice of our choice will tell us step-by-step turns until we arrive. 

But, at the end of the day, we still need some sort of routed directions. 

Life itself is like that as well. The distance between our original location (birth) to our final earthly destination (death) is one long journey. And it’s not too far into the trip when we start hitting forks in the road—choices to be made as to which direction to take. Try weed with your middle school friends or not…say “no” to the sexualized status of today’s teen years or go along with the crowd…choose among colleges to attend—or choose not to go…job A or job B…live together (because who needs a piece of paper?) or get married in purity…you get the point. Our life maps are as complex as those paper-map insets of large cities—every few steps, there seems to be another directional choice.

But, friends, there is a clear and definitive roadmap for life—the Bible. And it comes directly from the One who created life itself (not to mention your unique purposeful life). From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, there are 66 books filled with inerrant, God-inspired truth and guidance for the journey. The Bible is not some outdated, irrelevant antiquity. It’s archeologically proven, scientifically sound, and morally unblemished. It rigorously defines the safest, surest, most joy-filled route to take. You could call it “Route 66.”

Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible) is dedicated to explaining why to follow God’s Word—from the benefits of doing so to the consequences of going off-course. Here are just a few truths from this Psalm describing the results of going God’s way:

• We will not be unjust. 
• We will not be ashamed.
• We will walk in purity.
• We will be joyful.
• We will find counsel.
• We will be comforted.
• We will be strengthened.
• We will walk in liberty.

And those are just some of the truths from verses 1-45. There are another 131 verses to go in the chapter.

Of course, even when we follow God’s Word through life, we’ll still have choices—lots of them—along the way. But because the Mapmaker is our perfect, holy, loving, all-knowing God, you cannot make a bad turn if you follow Route 66.

Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. May I be always intentional about making it the light to my path through this world.