One of my favorite activities as a dad was hiking on the Appalachian Trail with my son. Several years my oldest daughter, Amanda went but Andrew and I have logged over 300 miles on the trail. Andrew was 9 years old and Amanda was 12 on our first hike. As we prepared for this 50-mile hike, we would load our backpacks with books and walk at the walking park each night. Although we were not climbing mountains, we were getting our bodies in shape for the hike to come.
The Appalachian Trail is very well maintained yet it is still rugged. It is marked by white markers ever 100 yards or so. It is, however, very easy to get off track if you don’t follow the markers. There have been several occasions where we found ourselves off track and had to walk further to get back to the main trail.
These hikes taught us a lot about life. The hikes taught us a lot about our walk with Christ. When on the trail, you must trust the map and the markers. In our walk with Christ, we must trust Christ and His Word. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” When our faith falters, we choose a trail that takes us way off track, and we lose precious time and energy. We must keep our eyes on Christ to stay on track. Psalm 24:4-5 says, “Show your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
In our walk with Christ, we must keep our eyes on Him and trust Him and He will direct our paths.
Pastor Dan