8-25-23

Have you ever taken a trip in a car to a new destination? Today many cars have navigation systems built in. You just put the address in and it takes you to the front door. So easy, usually, although it CAN be wrong. “Back in the Day”, we used to get out these big maps that you need to fold back up and never want to fold up as neatly as they came. If I take a long trip, I like to have both, because occasionally the navigation system will stop working, especially if you are using your phone. So, it is good to have the maps for back up. NO one wants to get off on the wrong road in an unknown area!

There is one destination that we do not have to worry about at all! Heaven! Jesus has promised in so many places in the bible that He IS the way! HE will take us there.  

We all know the story of Lazarus. How he got sick, and his sisters called for Jesus to come and heal him, but he waited before he even set off on the journey to get to where they were. So, by the time he got there, Lazarus had been dead for a while.

I have always found the story of Martha and Mary interesting. I am a Martha. I have a very hard time sitting still even at the feet of Jesus when there are things to be done. Mary, as you recall sat at the feet of Jesus and was doing “the best thing”, while learning from the Master. When Jesus finally got there to see Lazarus, it was Martha who ran out to greet him while he was still a ways outside the city.  She told Jesus that her brother was dead and that if he had but been there, he could have saved him. Of course, we know that Jesus delayed so that he could give glory to the Father in Heaven for raising Lazarus.

 John 11: 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”   In John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

There it is. THE WAY! We don’t have to worry about getting lost. The GPS doesn’t have to work, the maps do not have to show us the way. Jesus IS the way. Jesus is the ONLY way, but we don’t have to worry about “the way”. Jesus has made all the arrangements, all we have to do is believe, like Martha.

Shirlene Peterson