"Choosing the Right Pathway"

Choices, choices, choices, what is one to do?  Which path is the right and correct path to follow?

Do you remember the riddle about coming to a fork in the road?  When one thinks of a fork in the road one might think of the great philosopher, Yogi Berra and his great insight when he commented,

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it?"

Well so much for Yogi Berra.  So here is the riddle.

You are traveling down a road with great purpose and up ahead you notice a divide, a fork in the road.  Such prompts the question, “Which is the correct path to take?”  Only one will lead to your destination.

It is then that you notice the two men of which you heard.  They are standing at the junction where you will have to make a decision as to which road to take. 

Both of them know the correct answer to your question.  However, you've been warned that one of them always, without exception, lies and that the other, without exception, tells the truth.

You are allowed one question, but it must be the same question for both.

What is the question that you would ask to find the right path?

Here are some choices you might use to find the answer to the riddle.

• Use a lifeline and call a friend.
• Draw on some personal experience or another to make a decision.

• Use your intuition--you have a 50% chance of being right.

• Make a guess--again you have a 50% chance of being right.

• Make a choice and allow fate to decide outcomes.

• Flip a coin or roll the dice.

• Wait for the next person and follow them.

• Discount that the destination even exists.

• Give up the whole idea.

Maybe there are others that can go on the list.

The solution of the riddle is easier than it might first appear. 

You would simply ask each man in turn this question. 

"Which path would this other man say is the correct path?"

Both will give the same answer which is the wrong path and so you simply would take the other pathway.

Here is the explanation.

The liar will lie and say that the truthful man would say to go down one of the paths—the wrong path.  Because it is a lie, the correct path is the other path.  However you still do not know which man you are questioning.

The truthful man will tell the truth and say that the liar would say to go down one of the paths—the same one the liar picked.  Again you would not know which man you are questioning.

You do not need to know which is which but that they both pointed to the wrong path.  So then the correct choice is to choose the alternate pathway which is of course the proper pathway to the questioner's destination.

The Choices We Make…

Choices, choices, choices, what is one to do?  Which path is the right and correct path to follow?

Each of us, as we travel the roadway of life, arrives at many places where choices have to be made.  Most often the choices are obvious and certainly not as complex as in the previous riddle.

It is then that one must ask the question.  What is the basis upon which the choice is made?  As in the riddle, both roads do not end at the desired destination.  How is one to know?

Changing Frame of Reference…

The answer is found in what one chooses as his frame of reference.  If that frame of reference is ever moving and changing (self, group, situation, culture, mores, etc.) then there is great difficulty in choosing the right and correct pathway.  One never knows whether such is the correct path as culture is always redefining “correct.”

This is the easy path which must be wide in order to accommodate the great many that choose to walk it.  Actually there are those many because it is the pathway of one’s referent group and/or the culture in which one lives.

Constant Frame of Reference…

If on the other hand one chooses based upon a constant frame of reference, one that has not change for 2,000 years (The Judeo-Christian Scriptures, ethical truth, etc.) then there is less difficulty in choosing the right and correct pathway.

This is not the easy path, in fact it can be very difficult and therefore not many choose to travel its miles and so it has no need to be wide.  These are those who often are called upon to stand alone.

Easy Pathway…Maybe Not So Much!

Choices!  Choices lead to pathways.  Jesus taught about these pathways in his story, “The Gates.”  You can read about it in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). 

Matthew 7:13-14 13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.  NASU

The choice as to which gate to enter has a consequence.  The outcome of that choice is a path.  Walking that path has another consequence.  One path is difficult and leads to life, the other path is easy and leads to death.

The wonderful thing about being a follower of Jesus the Christ is this.  No matter how difficult the travel, dark the night, unfair the treatment, as one travels on the narrow pathway, there is One who said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18) and so we who travel the difficult way though it may be difficult, dark, and lonely, we really never do travel alone.

The question I have for you today is actually quite simple, yet profound in its simplicity. 

“Do you have the courage to choose the pathway of the Christ and thus to enter through the narrow gate and then to travel on the Lord’s pathway?”

"Connections That Count"

Well there it is, my flip phone just chirped in a most annoying way to tell me that it was now out of power and going to shut down, go to sleep, stop performing its functions.

What can be the problem?

The phone shows some wear (don' we all) but overall it works.  It contains contact numbers, calendar information, Push To Talk contact data, and the list goes on.  Certainly that information should be enough to keep the phone going but it is not!

Ever notice how people have come to believe that if they just know enough, have enough connections, etc. they can overcome any and all situations?  Still my phone just does not work.

The last time the phone was charged, it accepted the charge until the battery was full.  Certainly that battery should be enough to keep the phone going but it is not!

How about people seeking to have some internal power based upon some inherent element of their lives and/or personalities?  Still life just does not work for them.  Something must be different but what?  No matter the personality and uniqueness of my phone it just does not want to work.

The transformer and power cord function just fine.  In fact there are two power cords, one for the car and the other that came with the phone.  Both are fine and are capable of charging the phone's battery.  Not too long ago they did so.  Yet, there is a problem--no power and thus no phone.

Ever notice how people have come to believe that if they attend church an hour a week and read their Bible once in a while, and maybe say grace at a meal now and then that their faith works for them.  Yet it does not because there is a faulty connection!  Then something goes wrong and they question, "God where are You?" or "Where did You go?"

You see that is the problem with the phone.  It is not the phone itself, nor is it the source of power.  Both are fine!  It is just that the connection does not work very well and so getting the power into the phone thus to recharge the battery just does not happen.  There is a connection problem or we might say problem connection.

So too with God.  He is there, all powerful, ever present, all knowing, and very interested in a solid relationship with each of us (that would be a solid connection).  Here we are with our bumps and blemishes and imperfections, but even at our lowest ebb, with enough capacity to establish and enjoy that connection.  The problem is in our side of the connection for we seek to dictate the terms thereof.

So it is with the phone.  If I am willing to hold the phone and the power cord in just the right attitude to one another it will take a charge.  There is a problem with the phone's side of the connection.  So too there is a problem with our connecting with God but it is not on His side, it is on ours. 

The connection between God and man and man and God is decided and designed by God.  If we are ever going to experience that connection to its fullness, then we are going to have to come on God's terms and in His ways not our own good ideas. Just because we have a good idea about this connection does not mean that it is reality.

So why doesn't faith work for me?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel God's love?  --It is a connection problem.
So why does this bad habit hang on to my life?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel God's presence? --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't my prayer work?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel connected to other people?  --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't the Bible make sense to me?  --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't __________ work for me?  --It is a connection problem.

The reality is that the beginning place is the Lord, Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him.  It is from that initial start that one can have an unshakeable relationship (connection) with the Divine.  It is in that initial connection and as we grow in that relationship that we find power to do not just the day to day of life but even in those times when we are called upon to do the impossible.