A Straight Line

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! (Psalm 119:1-3 ESV).

Walking through freshly fallen snow, a father wanted to teach his son a key lesson in life. He said, “Son, I’m going to walk to that tree fifty feet ahead in a perfectly straight line. Then I want you to do the same.” The father walked to the tree. He turned to look at his son and they both observed the perfectly straight tracks in the snow. Not wanting to fail the test, the son looked at his father and began to walk. He looked down at his steps and veered to the left. He looked up and corrected his course. He looked down again. He veered to the right and had to correct his course once more. Arriving at the tree, his tracks told the story of his failure. His father explained, “Son, as long as you focused on me, your tracks were straight. The moment you took your eyes off me, you got off track. The key is keeping your eyes on the goal.” So it is in life. There is one primary goal and if it becomes the heart and focus of your life, it will be the key to eternal success. That goal is following the Lord. Keep your eyes on Him, and He will keep you right on track to where you need to go. Let me make a few practical suggestions: First, develop your relationship to him more each day. You can do this by getting to know more about him through the Scripture. Find him in each experience of the day no matter how trivial it may seem at the time. Pay attention to your day. Second, be attentive to what you already know of God’s will. Much has already been specifically revealed to us in the Scripture. Focus on those things and more information will be forthcoming. Third, pay attention to how God has designed you. By understanding who you are and what your gifts are you will be better equipped to walk in God’s will. After all his design was intentional as he saw your place in this world of His. Fourth, take a look at you circumstances. God often clearly demonstrates His plan for our lives by lining up circumstances in obvious ways. And He also shows us what His will is NOT for us to do in that same way (cf. Acts 16;6-10). Walk a straight line. It is the shortest distance between start and finish!