| “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” |
| —Exodus 15:13 |
During a worship time at summer camp, when I was a senior in high school and working on the camp staff, I sat in the tabernacle listening to an excellent message delivered by Rev. Lionel Sayers. Rev. Sayers was a man who had come to the pastorate after a career with the telephone company. He always preached with a very practical approach to sharing the truth of the Scriptures.
On this occasion, Rev. Sayers was urging the high school-age campers to commit themselves to following the pathway that God would open up before them. He talked about his own experience and how he had come to know about the claims of Jesus. He explained how easy it was to stray off the path of righteousness. He reminded the students that the Holy Spirit has come alongside every person who believes in Jesus. The Holy Spirit will illuminate the pathway and help each devoted follower of Jesus to stay on that righteous path.
As he drew his sermon to a close, a young man who was going to enter high school in the fall leaned over to me and asked:
“How will we know where to go?”
I stayed after the service and talked with this young man for probably 45 minutes. I opened my Bible and shared some key Scriptures with him. As I was doing this, I silently prayed that God would give me the right words to say—words that might truly help this young man follow Jesus in a more devoted way. I have no idea whether I helped him or not. In fact, I am ashamed to admit that I do not even remember his name. I am hoping that, when we all gather at the feet of Jesus, perhaps this young man will make himself known to me. For whenever I have thought about him over the years, I have prayed that God has helped him stay on the right pathway.
In singing a song of praise to God, the children of Israel, led by Moses, sang these words found in Exodus 15:13:
In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
It is God who keeps us on the right pathway. When we start to go off the path and into the unknown, dense woods of sin that surrounds each of us, God alone can nudge us to the right or to the left. God will always help us to persevere, to stay on the path, to keep moving forward in our spiritual lives.
As we begin a new day, let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to stay close to us, to lead us, to guide us, to open up the pathway ahead of us. And, let’s determine to obediently follow the way God shows us to go.
Based on a blog originally posted on Thursday, November 16, 2017
