On Following the Line

In many ways, the Christian walk resembles biking along a white line on a shoulder-less country road.  Too far to the right, and you’ll fishtail in gravel or maybe careen into a ditch; too far to the left, and you’re more likely to be struck by a car.  The safest route is to stay solidly on that white line.

Have you ever attempted to follow that stripe?  Even with a straight line, steady hands, and a flat road, your wheels can easily stray an inch or two to one side before you correct them—especially when you put in extra effort going uphill.  Added to that, sometimes the mark is washed out, sand-covered, or otherwise obstructed.  The line may break at intersections, and then you must consider your destination and choose which white line to follow. 

I trust my readers’ intelligence to translate the metaphors.

Like many Christians, I used to feel horrible guilt whenever I strayed from that metaphorical line in my life.  Yet, with maturity, I’ve realized that it doesn’t help to berate myself each time I swerve a bit or loose sight of it.  It’s more significant that I keep trying to follow and rejoin the path.  

Think about this—excluding cross-country bikers and daredevils, no rider would slip into the ditch or the middle of the road and think, “well, I guess I’ll just ride over here from now on.”  Yet, many people slip off “the straight and narrow” and decide that very thing; they give up on following the line toward Jesus.  They go their own way, sometimes parallel, sometimes perpendicular, maybe going so far as to trespass across a pasture or splash along a creek bottom.

Those routes might be more exciting than the one along the road stripe, but they don’t lead to the One at the end of the line.  He's worth seeking.  That’s why, despite how imperfectly I follow it, I’ll keep my eyes on that narrow path and choose to rejoin it however many times it takes till my Friend lets me rest at the end of the road.  Will you do the same?