My Way or the Highway

Proverbs 2:6 - The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 

Wow, did I change course this morning! You might say I changed lanes. As a believer it is my responsibility to not judge others when they do not know Christ. Sometimes this is hard not to do. We can quickly criticize others' beliefs and we really shouldn't. We can look at what they believe and shake our heads and wonder how it is they think like they do. 

I was originally going to write about how we are strangers in this world until Jesus enters our lives. Exodus 23:9 - Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt. And because we were strangers and oppressed, just because we have this new relationship, this new life in Christ, it's not up to us to criticize others for where they are in their lives. We can judge, in a God-like type of judgment, but I think our first thought should be one of compassion for lost souls. We were where they are once. We had the same mindset. What right do we have to not feel compassion? Jesus loved us; shouldn't we love all others? Jesus once said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And then He died...for us. That's love.

Hey, I had a lot of the same beliefs in God that others have. I couldn't imagine why anyone would waste Sunday morning going to church when a cup of coffee, the newspaper and a good Sunday movie seemed a greater idea. Besides, I knew who Jesus was. I knew He was born of a virgin, was the Son of God, was crucified, dead, buried and raised on the third day...just like our Lutheran Nicene Creed proclaimed. Wasn't that enough? What more did I need to know?

God is a good God, right? When anyone dies, there's no hell to be thrown into, right? God wouldn't do that. He loves all people. That's what we've been told. Oh, He might get upset with us and make us apologize for something we've done...confess our sins...but most often we can find a good reason why we committed the sin in the first place...it was somebody else's fault, right? 

These were my beliefs. They were mine and I was sticking to them. Before the Holy Spirit entered my life, I had no beliefs other than my own mixed up, unwavering idea that I was going to heaven because I was basically a good person and that's that. No one could tell me anything else. No one could tell me anything. Period. My way or the highway. I knew what I wanted and I was satisfied with that. I think that might sum up a lot of people.

Well, let me tell you, in time, that satisfaction wears down. It did for me. I was searching for something but not sure what. The question, "Is this all there is?" came and went in my mind. God was at work trying to get my attention and I didn't recognize it. Looking back, I can see! I wonder how many other people are where I was? I wonder if anyone reading this blog is there? 

We are held captive to this world until God searches us out to make an impression upon our hearts. We can believe anything we want but when He gets hold of us, a change takes place and one of them is our belief system. We get off the highway of life and onto the path that is the Way of Jesus.

And somehow this morning my mind got side-swiped! People don't know the Lord because they themselves have been too quick to judge. They have believed, in their heart, a lie. I believed a lie. But even that isn't their fault. It's the fault of our enemy, the devil. 1Peter 5:8 - ...your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It's what he does best...lie and deceive. But we tend to believe he does not exist, until we have experienced Christ for ourselves. And then we recognize what he's up to. So how can we criticize? 

It always goes back to God...and how He works in us. He can be prompting us time and time  again to "get right" with Him but we can be too busy focusing on our own world, success, beliefs. Our own pride gets in the way. We don't want to be wrong; we don't want to succumb to the powerful hand of the greatest authority figure there is. How dare anyone believe that He is in control and we are not? We might think we'll lose the person we think we are when actually He will take who He has made us and bring out the best we really are. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?

There's conviction in my spirit that says I am heading in the right direction in my knowledge of the Lord. I once was on the highway but got off on Exit 3 (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that pointed me in the direction of The Way. There's where I received Him. The next step was being filled with His Holy Spirit that I might know. His Spirit filling us is where our wisdom comes from. John 16:30 testifies of this: However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. This is amazing power. It shows us what is real and true. 

Today my thoughts are not as critical. Today they are more sympathetic, as they should be. There is a lost world out there. The power of God's Spirit has not entered into some lives. People have their own opinions about who Jesus is and what they think they need to believe or what their church might have taught. Did the church preach Jesus or their own ideas of who Jesus is? Although His message to us is easy, there is a depth that cannot be fathomed without the power of His Spirit leading us and teaching us. 

Jesus pretty much says it's His way or the highway. Sounds pretty one sided, doesn't it? We've all encountered people where we have recognized this type of personality. They have a narrow way of thinking, one that does not allow others' views to even be considered. Well, Jesus' way is narrow. He meandered the small dirt roads of His day on foot. He walked slowly from town to town. As He walked He met people and talked to them. Crowds gathered and listened intently.  

I look at His slow-going, narrow path as one of listening, learning, taking the time to worship Him and even waiting on Him. In today's world we have highways. A highway has fast lanes and if you don't like this one, quick, get to the next one going faster. How can you learn in a fast lane? How can you slow down enough to take Him in? How can you get to knowing Him there? Actually, He's probably not on that highway anyway.

When you get off your highway and look for the Way that is Jesus, you might be surprised at what you find. If you like what He has to say, you like His relaxed demeanor, you might also be drawn to His Spirit. That would be the greatest thing that ever happened to you. 

Get off the highway and slow down a bit. Instead of being a stranger, never making friends with those whizzing past you, take the path and meet people along the way. You might even encounter this Man who is the Way. Get to knowing this Man who wants to know you and get to knowing others who have opted for the slow-paced, narrow Way.

Ephesians 1:17-19 - I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength...