My family moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1987. I remember vividly as if it were just yesterday our first trip to that city. I purchased an atlas with maps of every state in the nation. I pored over the state maps of those states we would travel through on our journey. I was going a way that I had never been before, and I needed all the assistance I could get to make sure we did not get lost along the way. After choosing what I thought would be the best route, I highlighted the entire path we would follow. My wife, my trustworthy navigator, then gave instructions as we made our way along that almost 1100 mile journey.

When we decided to move to Dallas, we used that trusty atlas for the next several trips back and forth to visit family in South Carolina. However, it became obvious that I no longer needed to depend so much on my wife’s navigation. The route became more familiar. The different turns along the way became habit. Eventually I found that I no longer needed the atlas or the navigation. I knew the route so well that I could go the entire way with no assistance at all. Finally, I knew where I was going.

On September 13, 1977, I began a new journey. I set off on a path I had never traveled before. It was vastly different from the path I had been traveling. Everything was new. The path called for new directions – a new atlas, so to speak. The atlas was readily available. It contained detailed information on how to make it safely to my destination. It was written in such intricate detail that it was amazingly easy to follow. However, there were possibilities of deviating from the clearly established path, so it also contained warning signs along the way to warn of dangers that might be lurking ahead. The instructions were clear, and as long as I remained on the designated path I found that it was exceedingly safe and secure.

I have now been traveling this path for quite a while. I have studied the atlas diligently through the years since I first discovered it. It has provided me with invaluable information that has safeguarded me against many of the pitfalls that could have ensnared me through the journey. The path has sometimes seemed dark and foreboding, and on more than a few occasions I felt as if I had lost my way. It was on those occasions that I was driven back to the atlas to once again get my bearings, and once again get back on the right path.

The journey to which I refer is the journey of being a follower of Jesus Christ. The atlas to which I refer is the Word of God, the Bible. The path to which I refer is the narrow way spoken of by Jesus Himself. And the directions to which I refer are given to anyone who will take time to seek guidance and direction from Him.

Jesus said that life consists of two roads: one broad, and filled with countless throngs of travelers; the other narrow, and traversed by very few. The broad way is the way of the world. It can be described in many ways, but the descriptive terms I will use are from the atlas itself. The philosophy of the broad way is “eat, drink and be merry.” It has been worded in so many different ways in recent years: “get all the gusto out of life,” “if you’re not with the one you love, love the one you’re with,” and so many others. It is filled with frivolity and pleasure-seeking individuals who give little to no thought of eternity.

But the narrow path is the one chosen by those who take the atlas seriously. It is the path that is clearly marked in God’s Word. Jesus said that He was “the way, the truth and the life.” He further stated that the only way to the Father was through Him. In other words, Jesus is the one and only path that will result in ultimate fulfillment for those who choose to follow the narrow way.

After all these years since 1977, I still strive to follow the path I discovered in His atlas. I read it constantly, study it diligently, follow it obediently. And on those occasions in which I veer off course, I am quickly reminded by the presence and person of the Holy Spirit Himself that I need to get back on the narrow path.

The broad path can oftentimes be so alluring, so appealing, and if not for the constant testimony of the atlas that I have committed to memory through these many years I could easily be drawn to it. That is the reason I must consistently and constantly give my attention to the directives of the one and only atlas that shows the clear path to abundant life, and gives the promise of eternal life to those who follow.

So, where are you going?