I Am the Way

Since I’ve had my knees operated on, Lois and I often go for walks together to help each other recuperate from our respective surgeries.  Lois had her knee operated on a year ago while I had mine done three months ago.  A few days ago as we walked, we talked about where we were in our respective recovery.  We talked about our expectations, our progress, our disappointments, and we came to the conclusion that we just weren’t sure how everything was going to work out.

The more I think about this conversation, the more I realize that this is what we all face—the uncertainties of life with an opportunity to seek God.  The God of the Bible invites people to journey with Him through life.  In the Old Testament, God appears to Abraham and tells him to leave his family and familiar surroundings to a place, “I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

In the New Testament Jesus appeared to some men and invited them to “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 4:19) and later, He extended the invitation to all, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).  In other words, Jesus is saying, if you want to do life with Me, “I am the way” (John 14:6). 

Looking at how Jesus’ earthly life played out, following Jesus is not entirely attractive or appealing; however, His promises of, “Surely, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) and “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6) is.

I could write my own narrative but I have a feeling that I will not follow my script and the epilogue will end in a shocker.  However, if I do life with Jesus, I have a strong suspicion that life will be filled with drama, but will end better than I expect (see Philippians 2, II  Timothy 2:11-12).