When you are on a long road trip, the road signs begin to blend together after awhile. It’s easy to see them from your peripheral view and yet never really pay attention to them. Of course, this may create a difficult situation when you are on an unfamiliar road and the signs contain critical instructions for when you need to make a turn, take an exit, or drive down a detour. How many times have you seen the information that you needed just as you were passing it by? Too late to actually follow the pertinent directions, corrective action is now required.
Many times we approach life like a long journey. Often, we go down the road on cruise control. We become used to the directions and instructions in God’s Word and so we tend to view them only in the peripheral – not really paying attention to the Truth contained therein. We act as if we know where we are going, so we miss the signs that tell us to “turn here” or “exit approaching.” Just like the road trip, we may need to take corrective action to get back to where God is guiding us. We go down the road that we think we’re supposed to be on, unaware that God may be calling us to make a change in direction.
Treating God and His Word like the road signs that we pay attention to only when we’re lost means that we often miss out on preparing for and anticipating the work that He is calling us to. While He graciously often provides detours to get us back on the road He desires, how much better to pay attention to the teaching and instruction of His Word, and be on the road that He’s calling us down all along?