Read 1 John 5:11–13
Being lost is a terrifying experience. A person’s head spins as panic creeps up, shouting threats like, “You’ll never find your way!” or “It’s impossible!” Fear clutches at you.
Several strange things are true about being lost. One is that we can think we really aren’t when we are. Sincerity is no guarantee we’re on the right road. Furthermore, we don’t have to be alone to be lost. We can be surrounded by a lot of folks—even a large group of nice people—and be totally off track. Running faster doesn’t help, either. Speed, like sincerity, is no friend to the bewildered.
As bad as that is I can assure you there’s something much worse: being spiritually lost. Pay close attention to how Solomon describes it in the book of Proverbs:
The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the godly will flourish. There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. (Proverbs 14:11–12)
Isn’t that last part penetrating? The path a person chooses in life may seem right. It may also have the approval and admiration of rather influential individuals. But its end result? The ultimate dead-end street.
Thankfully, the Bible tells us that God did not leave us to figure out the right path on our own. Instead, He showed us the way when He pointed us to His Son, Jesus Christ:
This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11–13)
Read that again, this time a little more slowly and, preferably, aloud.
Be honest. Are you lost?
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.
The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.
