Follow the Directions
WHEN WE KNOW WE’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, WE MUST AGREE THAT OUR WAY IS WRONG AND TURN AROUND.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read 1 Timothy 6:11-14.
Verse of the Day: “Follow what is right and good” (1 Timothy 6:11).
“The man said to turn right back there, Daddy,” Kirsten said.
“I heard what the man said,” Dad answered coolly without turning around.
Kirsten and her family had gotten lost while on their way to a wedding. After driving aimlessly for a while, Dad had finally pulled to the curb and asked directions of a man on the sidewalk.
The man had offered a few sentences of careful directions. Dad had followed them for a little while, but soon stopped.
“Why aren’t you going the way the man said, Daddy?” Kirsten asked.
“I think I know where I am now,” he answered.
Mom glanced at Dad with an expression of uncertainty but said nothing.
After what seemed a long time, Dad pulled to the curb again and shouted to a person on the sidewalk. When the man turned around, Dad, Mom, and Kirsten recognized him as the man who had given him directions before. Dad stuttered in embarrassment as he asked the man to repeat his directions.
On the way home from the wedding, Dad asked Mom to drive, then climbed into the back seat with Kirsten. “My stubbornness made us late to the wedding, didn’t it?” Dad asked.
Kirsten reluctantly nodded.
“I already apologized to Mom,” he said, “and she agreed that I should talk to you, too.” Dad took a deep breath. “Kirsten, I feel silly about what I did, but that’s no big deal. But sometimes we do the same thing with God’s directions, and the results can be a lot worse than being late to a wedding.”
“God’s directions?” Kirsten asked.
Dad nodded. “You see, Kirsten, God has explained to us in his Word how we should act and which way we should go. But sometimes-like I did tonight-we ignore God’s directions and go our own way, thinking we know more than he does.”
“But we don’t, do we, Daddy?”
“No,” Dad answered. “So, when we know we’re going a different direction from the way God has commanded, we need to turn around. We can ask God’s forgiveness for going the wrong way and let him help us to go the right way.”
Kirsten’s mind seemed to be elsewhere. “That man must have thought we were crazy, Daddy,” she said.
Dad laughed. “No,” he answered, reaching out to tickle his daughter. “Just me.”
TO DO: Tack a road map to your family bulletin board or refrigerator to remind everyone in the family to follow God’s directions today.
TO PRAY: “Lord, you promise to direct our paths. We need to follow your directions, even when we think we already know where we’re going.”