a path through the woods

I went for a walk in the woods this morning.  It's funny how the woods looks the same as you walk through it.  Of course there is great beauty in the trees and plant life all around...and there is an intimacy, a oneness with the Creator, that you sense under the canopy of branches while the sun peaks through, like the Father watching you.  But I was grateful to find a path through the woods this morning because I was in a place I had not been before.  The path was wide enough for hunters to take trucks into their stands and so I could easily trod through without constantly moving branches or feeling the pull of briars.  I didn't know where the path would lead when I first started out, but I was confident that I could follow it in and back and would not become lost.  So the path allowed me to enjoy the walk and the surroundings without fear and without distraction.  It occurred to me that Jesus is our Path.  Life is like the woods.  It has vast depth and there is great beauty but we spend much time wandering in the woods without knowing where we are going or how we can safely return.  Thorns and branches pull at us even as we are lost and we can become discouraged.  The Path of Life turns the wandering into purposeful striding.  With Jesus, we may not know how life will play out in detail but we are confident of our destination and the path is a reminder of His constant quiet presence.  Walking through the woods, the path quietly serves as my guide.  It is ready to lead me whenever I step into it.  Like Jesus, it's beauty lies in its quiet leadership and liberating presence.  I can enjoy the walk and I can appreciate the Path. 

Deuteronomy 5:³³ Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

John 14:⁶ Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

blessings,
Rob Smith