“Checking Your Life’s Route”

Scripture: “This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes." –Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV

Within the past five years, GPS’s have really came into the mainstream. This particular tool has saved us from making many mistakes in our travels. GPS’s usually provides us the shortest route between your home and the place you want to go or vice versa. However, there are times where the GPS will take you somewhere and the somewhere does not exist; therefore, you may have to pull over and check the route your GPS is steering you towards. In our Christian walk, we have a set of GPS’s. Our set of GPS’s including our Heavenly Father, Jesus His Son, the Holy Spirit, and The Word. Through these GPS systems, they do what they can to steer us correctly. Just like a GPS in our vehicle, we must follow the route our Heavenly Father shows us. Today’s text clarifies the thought of checking your life’s route.

Our main scripture is found in the book of Ecclesiastes. This book, written by King Solomon as the wisest king of all-time, is the fourth book of Poetry within the Old Testament. Within today’s focal chapter, Chapter 7, the watch word is wisdom. Within this discussion of wisdom, Solomon displays his concern for his people and us when it comes down to checking your life’s route.

Solomon begins the text by saying, “This only have I found: God made mankind upright”. What a statement of truth and clarity! Before there was you and I, there was Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had everything. God gave Adam dominion over this entire Earth. Though they were “naked”, God created Adam and Eve perfect. They had no worries in the world because their nourishment needs were met. There was no need for financial struggle. There was no need for spiritual struggle. If truth were told, God created you and I in the same manner. He made us upright, forthright, strong, mighty, smart, and able to do anything through Him, hated evil, and anything else. The way God created us is like the way you drive when there is no traffic on the highway: smooth. Just like Adam and Eve’s ride through paradise was disturbed, so was ours, because of the traffic known as the enemy.

Because the enemy brought traffic to our smooth ride, Solomon concludes our text by saying, “but men have gone in search of many schemes”. If truth were told, when traffic hits the highway, we often try to think of an alternative route. There are times where the alternative route worked; however, for the most part, we were re-directed back to the main road. As we continue to walk in the Kingdom of God, God knows that we are going to veer off from time-to-time because of the traffic of health problems, the traffic of financial problems, the traffic of marital problems, and other traffic issues. The blessing is He wants you to check your route through Him and His Word, your GPS system(s), so that you can find your way back on the main road, which is Him!

In closing, do not allow anyone or anything to deter your progress or stop you from traveling down the route God has for you. It will come with traffic, but you will get there eventually. I think about how I use to make the drive from MD to NC to visit my family. I would be tired because I worked a full day, but God blessed me to get on the highway, deal with the traffic of 95, suck up fatigue, and make it home! That’s the key today: no matter how treacherous and bad things get, remember with God, you will make it home and safe!