The Way Home
June 29, 2006 • By Ed Wrather
06.29.06
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. - 2 Timothy 3:16.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6.
Can you imagine being in a foreign city for the first time and forgetting how to return to your hotel? What would you do? You might do what an American soccer fan did in Hanover, Germany. The 25-year-old man from Boston checked into his hotel prior to the soccer match between Poland and Costa Rica. However, after the match he was unable to remember the name of the hotel he had checked into, and he couldn't even remember the address. He searched for the hotel for six hours after the soccer match without success. He finally realized that he was lost and needed help. Around three in the morning, he stumbled onto a police station and asked for help. A spokesperson for the police, Holger Jureczko said, "The only thing he could remember was paying 10 euros for a taxi ride to the city center and that he went past a park and a Mercedes dealer. There are a lot of Mercedes dealers in Hanover but we were able to find the one in the vicinity of a park." The lost man finally recognized the hotel after driving around the streets in the area for an hour just before the morning sun rose. It must have been a long, long night!
What would you do if you were in a similar situation? Being a man, I would probably do the same thing as in trying to find the hotel without asking for help. On our recent trip, I was only lost one time and I was able to buy a map and find my way back without asking for help. But it did seem to be a source of frustration for my wife!
How could the lost man in Hanover have resolved his situation more quickly? How can we? He could have immediately asked for help. Pride appears to be the primary motivation for not asking for help, at least from my own experience. Asking for help is admitting that you cannot do it on your own; and that you need help and advice from someone else. It means that if you have to have help that you are not perfect, that you do not know everything, and cannot do everything on your own. That is hard for some of us to swallow, but it is still the truth for every person on this earth. None of us knows everything, and none of us can do everything by ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that we all need help; assistance, or advice sometimes - and that admitting it can actually make life easier for us.
It is the same in the spiritual realm. We cannot arrive at the correct spiritual destination without help. Where should we go for spiritual help? The very first place to go is to God. Ask Him to help you to find your way. He promises to do that in Matthew 7:7-8. The second place to go for spiritual help is to the Word of God, which is the Bible because,"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." What does God say through the Bible about finding your way spiritually? Here are a few of many verses of Scripture about this eternally important subject:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)."
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)."
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)."
"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10)."
"For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Romans 10:13).'"
Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" and it is only through Him that you can find your way to your spiritual home. For more information about finding your way spiritually and being saved eternally, you can access the "How to be Saved" webpage at the Burning Bush website at this URL: http://www.theburningbush.net/articles.asp?columnid=2939