The Journey

THE JOURNEY

Proverbs 1:1 - 5

An old quote attributed to an ancient Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu, who lived in the 4th century BC goes as follows; “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” What Lao Tzu implies with this philosophical thought is that it does not matter whether you use your left foot or your right foot to step out. What is important is that you make that first step.

For many an important journey is one that can be life changing. If your journey is of this type than it is best not to look behind you to see where you came from. If you do so, you may see heart break, conflict, tears and longing. The consequences could also be very serious if you do look back, just ask Lot’s wife. Therefore, when one begins a very important journey one should only look ahead towards your ultimate destination.

I come from a family that loved to go on journeys. We started going on our trips when I was around six years old. We started our adventures locally in Southern California. Eventually, we moved up to the Sierra Nevada mountains and then into Oregon and Washington. My sister and I enjoyed the experiences and adventures. We would often take off up a trail barely staying in sight of our parents. It wasn’t uncommon for us to get in trouble by coming upon a rattlesnake in the middle of the trail or even a moose. Being kids, we didn’t know better and we would hightail it back to our parents knowing they would protect us.

By the time I graduated from High School, my family and I had visited every state between the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. And from the Mexican to the Canadian border.

Now in my case, a journey often began with a tank full of gas more than it did with taking the first step. In addition my journey’s were more for adventure and to see the beauty of our country and to enjoy God’s Nature.

As an individual as well as part of a family I have been to many new places and seen many new faces. My sense of wanderlust has never really diminished and I still get excited by traveling somewhere new.

There are many different types of journeys we may take in our lifetime. As I just discussed there is the journey for adventure. One can also take a journey for discovery,

A journey for truth,

A journey for enlightenment

An emotional journey,

An imaginative journey,

A spiritual journey.

Today, I would like to focus on the latter type of journey. The spiritual journey with God. For some of you the journey with God most likely started with a niggling in the brain . . . a whisper perhaps from the Holy Spirit. You probably first noticed that whisper when you realized there was this emptiness in your soul. A hole that you decided needed to be filled. After much thought and soul searching you believed this emptiness you felt was of a spiritual nature. From this realization you quickly concluded that you needed to start attending church. Once you started attending church you felt that something was still missing. Perhaps, it was in the message you were hearing each week. Maybe, you were not satisfied with just the message and needed something in addition. Whether you questioned the message you were hearing each week or you just needed more than the message you began to study your Bible. While studying you possibly felt what you were reading did not always jive with what you heard at the current church you were attending. So, you began visiting other churches while continuing your study of the Bible.

Over the course of time while studying the Bible and attending various churches you might have come across a flyer about a Revelation Seminar. Some of you might have received a personal invitation from a friend, family member or possibly a co-worker or neighbor. Others, might have come across the message by watching Amazing Facts or Faith for Today on the TV or hearing the programs on the radio or computer. In any case, you eventually attended this church and suddenly that void in your soul was filled.

For some, this was the church we grew up in. Our parents brought us to church each week. As we grew older some of us continued to believe in this message and had no desire to attend other churches. There were some who grew up in the this faith and for whatever reason they stopped attending once they became adults. Or perhaps, never stopped believing, but for whatever reason might have strayed off the path and stopped going to church for several years. At some point these individuals also began to feel that void in their soul or the still small voice in their head. Once they recognized the impetus to return to church they ended up where they started as a child; attending this church.