Straight Ahead

by Brenda Black
Published May 26, 2009

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Tell my dog that, please! When we go for morning power walks, I pray and plod along, enjoying the wide-open spaces and the company of God. Boone, a border collie, however, finds it impossible to stay on course. For three days, I tried a short leash. Never walked a mile so fast in my life! What’s more, he multiplied that mile by pulling me from side to side all over the road.

You have to meet Boone to appreciate his enthusiasm and his strength. I decided my chances of Missouri gravel skiing might be decreased if I put him on a longer rope. I half-hitched him around the hips to keep his pace in check. My soles weren’t smoking anymore, but the course was still anything but straight. Now he just had more slack in order to track.

While Boone is a purebred, I’ve frequently believed he must be tainted by blood hound or beagle. He can sniff out anything! So as I’m padding along - he’s exploring rabbit trails, deer tracks, puddles, and butterflies. Once in a while, he lifts his head, perks up his ears and I know he is considering the possibility of pursuing a bird in flight. All I can think is “I’m not wearing Air Jordans!”

This wandering, wiggling, tail-wagging wonder has me wondering. How much do we act like this pooch on the prowl as children of God? Do we dart this way and that, following the latest trail to happiness? Do we have our heads down, nose to the ground, searching for something in this world here below to ease our pain? Are we in hot pursuit of some unseen thrill to fill the emptiness?

God’s word says in Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” He tells us how to get there on a straight and narrow road in Matthew 7:13-14. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” And finally, He leads the way. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.(Ps. 119:105) Jesus is “...the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6)

Amy Grant recorded a song titled “Straight Ahead” more than 20 years ago. But God told us thousands of years before “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (Pr. 4:25-27)

May God bless us with the fervency to usher in Christ’s Second Coming by not only staying on the straight and narrow ourselves, but carrying out the work of leading others on the same road. If we follow Christ and encourage others, as did John the Baptist, about the route, our message will pave the way rather than push and shove people toward heaven. “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” (Lk. 3:4b-6)

Walk on!

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