Morning Devotional 061125 On the Road With Jesus!

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

June 11, 2025

Proverbs 4:11-19

11 I teach you the path of wisdom. I lead you in straight courses. 12 When you walk, you won’t be hindered; when you run, you won’t stumble. 13 Hold on to instruction; don’t slack off; protect it, for it is your life. 14 Don’t go on the way of the wicked; don’t walk on the path of evil people. 15 Avoid it! Don’t turn onto it; stay off of it and keep going! 16 They don’t sleep unless they do evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. 17 They eat the bread of evil, and they drink the wine of violence. 18 The way of the righteous is like morning light that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day. 19 The path of the wicked is like deep darkness; they don’t know where they will stumble.

Good Morning! Follow the path of the Lord!

My path, faith journey, has been full of twists and turns. Despite the unexpected changes in direction, my destination has never changed. As I consider what it means to follow straight courses, I envision the many stopping points along the way. 

When you plot a trip on your GPS, you will be shown the best route, as per your criteria. You can choose the fewest turns, the quickest route, or the route that avoids tolls. If you desire specific stops along the way, you can put those in and the GPS creates a new route with the stop inserted. 

Perhaps, as we traverse our faith journey which God lays out before we are born, God presets the destination, but we are given free will to insert our stopover points. Some of the stops are fruitful while others are a bust. It’s kind of like stopping at some “attraction” that you’ve read about and you insert on your trip, and then when you arrive you see it’s not all that you expected it to be. 

Our faith journey often leads us to the roads less traveled and includes unexpected blessings and learning opportunities. Some of you may remember the “On the Road” series with Charles Kuralt. Charles’ trip focused on the less-traveled back roads where he discovered extraordinary aspects of ordinary people and places. 

God leads us, his ordinary creations, on extraordinary journeys. Embrace the ride!

Giving Lord, you bless us abundantly! Sometimes, we are in a hurry to reach our destination and forget to appreciate the journey, missing the amazing discoveries that unfold before us.  Help us to allow you to be our guide so that we live our lives to the fullest. Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Following Jesus’ example helps us find our way through life.

God is the conductor, Jesus is the guide, and the Holy Spirit provides the energy! Pastor Liz