The Road to Nowhere

Hypothetical. Fathers Day.

My Dad who I really want to see lives in St. Louis Missouri. I'm in Chicagoland. So I decide to go see him.

I want to be united. I want to have some good times with him. I want to be where he is. I do it because I love him.

Someone tells me that the only way to St. Louis is Interstate 55. Oh, there are parallel roads but in the end you must end up on 55 as you head south southwest. The direction is right. The only way to St. Louis is I-55.

On the other hand, Frank says to me, Gene, you really ought to take I-80 east. Toledo, Cleveland. Great sights. Fast road. Lots of fun. But I say, it won't get me to St. Louis will it? Frank says, all roads are the same. It's the journey that matters, not the destination.

Tom counters. You need to go up I-94 toward Minneapolis. It's one of the most beautiful rides. Plenty of places to get off the road. Pleasant. Scenic. Will it get to St. Louis, I ask? Oh, this road has much to offer. It's beautiful. Many great people have traveled this road before. Did they get to St. Louis. No one knows. But the ride was great.

Bill finally says. I know a road that goes very close to St. Louis. I-57. Goes South and a tiny bit west. It's nearly the same as I-55. The same people built it. Besides you'll end up in Memphis, Elvis's home town. Won't that be fun?

I listen, but soon realize that if I want to get to to St. Louis, there's only one road that will take me there. I-55. If I take a wrong road I will have to turn back from I-80 or I-90 or even correct my course on I-57 to redirect my path to St. Louis.

If I choose go down other roads I will end up somewhere else, not in the presence of my Father.

I remember as a kid in Sunday School a handout with people going down a great road, nice, straight wide, clean and at the end dropping off a cliff at the end to ultimate destruction. While on the other hand, some were staying on a narrow path and ending up in Heaven. It impressed me and to this day it still does. There is a way that seemeth right to a man but in the end leadeth to destruction.

It's not even about all the people who have traveled the other roads. Even Hitler had his good points. Gandhi too. They just traveled the wrong road. Every other road has things about it that offers much to commend it. At the same time these other roads offers nothing but death in the end. The road marked Buddhism is beautiful but leads nowhere, the road marked Islam is clean and straight but has a dead end, the road marked atheism has no roadmarks at all, just wandering around, and there are other roads that at the beginning have signs that say, Jesus, 500 miles. But they take wrong turns and end up somewhere other than the destination intended. The Highway of Holiness is the only way, all others lead nowhere.

There is only ONE WAY to the Father, Jesus. Only one.