Jesus Pointed True

What did Jesus Do?

I am the way…No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14.6

I just got back from a week at Boy Scout Camp. There were no Scouts there yet, it was a week of getting ready for the 2,000 boys and young men who will be coming later this month and through July. There are lots of things to do at camp. On brutally hot summer days there’s no better place to be than the waterfront. And, if you want to make something nice to give to mom when you get back from camp, then you want to work on a project at the handicraft hut. For the adventurous there is the 40 foot climbing tower and the high ropes course. Perhaps not as much fun as some of these other activities in camp, but probably more important in some ways is the outdoor skills area, or what we used to call Scoutcraft. If a boy isn’t taught how to take care of himself in the outdoors he can get into all kinds of trouble.

Take knowing where you are going in the woods. If you don’t know the trails and the terrain you can get lost pretty easily, even in areas which are not all that remote. Get into some deep wilderness and you better have a guide, or at least a good compass that points the true way for you. One thing a leader would never give a Scout would be a faulty compass, one that didn’t point true. A compass that points anywhere but north is good for nothing but getting lost!

Now God, the Father, could be likened to a Scout leader who has a strong and abiding interest in the welfare of all his Scouts. Of course, God thinks of us as sons and daughters, but most good Scout leaders come to think of the young people in their troop as family of sorts, so the analogy isn’t so far off. Well, the Father wants nothing more than for his “Scouts” to be able to make it home to him. And he knows that, like the greenest tenderfoot Scout, we don’t have the knowledge, skills, or equipment to make our way home on our own. So the Father has given the world a compass.

Now, do you think the father would give out some compasses that point north, and others that point, oh south by southeast? Why, God would have us all heading off in all kinds of directions, with only the ones who were lucky enough to get the actual working compasses that pointed true, being able to get home. Well, the Father would not play false with any of his “Scouts.” God has not given out many different compasses, but One who could honestly say, “I am the way…No one come to the Father except through me.” In fact, Jesus is at one and the same time both the compass, and the trail, if you will. He not only shows us the way, He is the way; kind of map, compass, and trail all in one.

Some will like to argue that there are “many paths” too God. But, as any Scout can tell you, not all paths lead you home. And any compass that does not point true is worthless. When we encounter someone who is lost, do we tell them they can go in any direction they like and still get to where they need to go. or do we show them and tell them the truth, pointing the true way to the Father? That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4