John 14:5-6 (ESV)
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
So it is a new way. New route altogether. The roads in life get more massive and messy with each season and passing decade. The nooks and cranny of all the roads and lanes I knew when I was growing up have changed tremendously. Residents have mostly moved on and left the hustle and bustle of the heart of the city, and also a known notorious territory. Most lots were turned into commercial companies and various kinds of businesses. Driving in town now is quite a maze for me especially after the roads were mostly turned into one way street. It is not the Penang I knew forty years ago. The road names are changed too – from British names to local names. All those memorized road names inevitably etched in my memory. A lot are known by their local Hokkien terms.
I no longer walk by foot around the town. It ought to be faster now that I drive in a modern car. Interestingly, sometimes I took longer than I should because I still forget these are one way street (I know, my husband will shake his head). Driving is always a good spiritual lesson for me. I need to know the way. I hear you saying, “Use the GPS.” Oh well, I must say it doesn’t work all the time. Unfortunately, for me. Maybe it is your lifesaver. It is not always mine. My mother is not here anymore to tell me how to go through certain lanes. Even if she is still here, she would be as lost. If not, even more. I’ve learned very much to make sure I take Jesus along in my drives. I studied the map before I journey out if I need to go to some unfamiliar destination. I pray before I leave the house. I pray in the car. I pray all the way. I ask Jesus to lead me through the right route. Sometimes I overshot the junction and have to detour. It takes a little longer to recalculate the route and reach my destination. It is alright as long as I have Jesus with me. That small error may cost me some time and inconvenience, but surely I will arrive safely.
When we move out of our position and follow God (Joshua 3:3-4), he assures us that we will know the way. Which way? What way? Only ONE way. When doubting Thomas anxiously asked Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus instantly replied. He said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Which way? What way? Hear it again – he says, “I am.”
How does he show us the way? Literally, it could be a road, path, or route we are traveling on. Perhaps, an instruction for a certain direction or communicating a specific distance towards that direction. Maybe not a literal road. He is giving us a revelation of methods or strategies, or redefining the old to make it new. Many times we are on the right track but too dim to see ahead. He suddenly shines the light on that dark lonely alley to lead us out to the main road where bright light is aglow.
Whether it is a roadmap or methodologies, forms and style, or role and function – these will be wrapped in truth because Jesus is unchanging and gives life. Truth doesn’t change. They remain facts – yesterday, today and tomorrow. They are real. Tangible and grow. Anything that grows – emits life! Productive. Propagating. Progressive.
Study our life map, a.k.a. The Bible. Also, take Jesus with us in the changes ahead. Remember his words. “I am the way, and the truth and the life.”
“Father, thank you for Jesus and his promised presence and counsel to lead me continuously…I decree Jesus is the way, the truth and the life for me and all that is ahead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
© Pr Selina Khoo Lim, Gateway City Church, Penang. 22 April 2020