Get Your Map, Walk the Path, Take Care Who You Follow

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Recently I completed a metric century bicycle ride of 67 miles that took me a little over five hours to complete. During the ride I had many experiences, which led to some observations that developed into this homily. I hope you find it interesting and helpful because I believe it has a message of warning and caution to each of us in how we walk the path God wishes us to follow, which some call “the narrow way.”

 

In retrospect, my preparation and training for this ride facilitated an efficient and enjoyable experience. I obtained a map of the route and studied it thoroughly. This informed me what I was up against, as there was over 1600 feet of climb in elevation during the first 30 miles. I drove most of the route in my truck to understand the difficulty of the hills and the long miles that I would have to endure to complete the ride. I biked the route in gradual increments to build up my endurance. This planning and experience, I would find out later, saved me from making costly mistakes during the ride and gave me a secure and confident feeling about completing what lay before me.

 

This meticulous planning and training is similar to the habits we must develop in our own Christian life if we are to not only bring glory to God but also assure that we run the spiritual race that lays before us in a godly fashion. So now lets examine my triad of recommendations for a successful Christian spiritual race.

 

Get Your Map

 

The map for our spiritual ride is our Bible. It is a storehouse of wisdom, guidance, warnings, cautions, advice, counsel and comfort that will instruct us in how to run the race before us and avoid any pitfalls along the way.

 

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

 

We are to not just “possess” our Bible we are to study it in detail and apply it to our actions, behaviors and especially to our thoughts.

 

2 Timothy 2:15

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

 

I could have gotten a map for my bike ride and bragged that I had it, but unless I had studied and used it, having it in my possession would mean nothing. A map is not useful to a traveler unless it is used for guidance. A Bible is not useful to a Christian unless it is consulted and used to make decisions and influence attitudes and behaviors. Studying God’s Word shows us to be a “workman” of the scriptures and enables us to use it and apply it to the situations we face in life. Without a Bible (God’s map for life) we will be blind to the path God wishes us to follow and we very likely will stumble into sin. The famous preacher Dwight L. Moody stated, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

 

I found out later that many people riding in the various bike rides had not picked up a map. I have no idea how they planned to guide themselves over the route if they did not have a map. Many people approach life with the same attitude, even Christians. Without scripture to guide us we will fall victim to all sorts of false teachers and winds of doctrine. To attempt to live a Christian life without being a student of the Word is to allow ourselves to be attracted to any fanciful thing we might wish to hear.

 

2 Timothy 4:3-5

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

 

As we become mature Christians through studying God’s Word and being taught properly in it we become mature spiritual adults.

 

Ephesians 4:14

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

 

Walk the Path

 

Studying our Bible, the spiritual map for our Christian race, enables us to walk the straight and narrow path. In my bike ride, not only did people fail take maps along, they ignored or did not pay attention to markings on the road that laid out the path of the ride. The people organizing the bike ride had placed colored duct tape on the road at specific points in the ride that would help riders know when to turn and in which direction to go when a decision had to be made. Without a map you had no idea where you were going and the markings were of no help if you did not look for them.

 

Studying the Bible is a good habit to get into, but if you don’t apply it to your life there is no benefit of the Bible study except to puff up your ego. Applying scripture to our daily decisions and thought life illuminates the path that God wants us to take in life. It enables us to make wise choices in relationships, in business, in recreation and in ministry to others. It keeps us on the path and prevents us from going off into the weeds or heading down a path that delays our spiritual growth, which can cause us harm. Numerous passages talk about how scripture can mark the path we are to walk in life as well as the importance of following scriptural guidance.

 

Psalms 119:105

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

 

Psalms 27:11

“Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.”

 

Psalms 119:35

“Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.”

 

On my ride I saw people veer off the bike route because they were not paying attention to the marks on the road and had no map. This would cause them to use up priceless energy biking down a road and getting lost. Such is the case if we stray from the righteous path of the Lord.

 

Psalms 119:104

“I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.”

 

Proverbs 15:10

“Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path;”

 

Proverbs 21:16

“A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead.”

 

Take Care Who You Follow

 

Another observation I made on my metric century ride was that sometimes people would follow other bikers down the wrong path. I doubt the bikers they were following were doing this on purpose, but the results were the same. Confused or misdirected riders led other gullible riders down the wrong road. We find the same behavior in the spiritual life.

 

There are two types of false teachers that can lead Christians and others astray. There are the “confused or misdirected” teachers. They mean well and are very sincere in their desire to teach and lead people in truth but their doctrine and understanding of spiritual matters is defective, uniformed or misguided. They speak falsehood because they are not well-informed students of the Word of God. They walk down a side path, off the straight and narrow, and end up in the bushes leading others in the same path.

 

There are other false teachers that are “evil and devious.” They know they are misleading people and do so for personal gain and/or power. They either don’t care about eternal consequences or don’t believe there are any eternal consequences for deceiving others in falsehood.

 

Matthew 7:15-16

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”

 

Matthew 24:24

“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible.”

 

2 Peter 2:1-3

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.”

 

So get your map – that’s your BIBLE!

 

Walk the path – AS DIRECTED BY SCRIPTURE!

 

Be careful who you follow – GODLY CHRISTIANS!

 

Enjoy your Christian life even with its challenges, because there is pleasure in the trials as you see God work in, through and around you as you walk the narrow path of the King’s highway!