It’s not a suggestion.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Israel/Jordan on a tour. Actually, my husband and I wanted to gift our daughter, Bethany, with the trip of her dreams, and then … at the last minute, he decided to let me go with her. Hurray! We both had jobs to juggle. We hesitated, “Should we? CAN we??” and then “YES! Let’s do it! We may never have another chance.” She and I scrambled to rearrange and reroute some important duties … and, grabbing two of the last available seats on the Mooney/Pedigo tour, off we went.
Oh, my. Looking back now, I must say that I’m SO GLAD that we took the trip WHEN we did. Life has changed so much since then—for us and for others on that same trip. We would never be able to replicate that incredible adventure NOW. As it turned out, it WAS the trip of a lifetime.
The photo accompanying this piece is from that trip. Our tour guide, Yeheskiel Rahamim (“Hezi”), was so interesting and knowledgeable in Bible history. BUT, as a bonus, having served as a soldier with the IDF, he was also able to add his amazing insight into Israel’s military history. He routed our tour to include a visit to an abandoned bunker in Northern Israel—I so wish I could hear him retell his story today.
As I remember it, Hezi related with passion and clarity what it was like to be a soldier fighting for Israel’s existence from a similar bunker during the Six Day War in 1967. Against all odds, outnumbered and practically down to the last tank and their last shell, he with his fellow soldiers hunkered down and STAYED in their fortified positions until …
A crackling transmission came over the radio. They heard the news that Jerusalem had been liberated! The Western Wall of the Temple Mount had been reclaimed! He told with tears how the war-weary soldiers came out of hiding that day … and wept and danced for joy! “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing …” (Psalm 30:11) We relived that moment a bit when Hezi told the story—I think we were ALL weeping.
But, though rightfully reclaimed by Israel, the Golan region still holds in its heart the lethal weapons used to guard it. To this day, the soil in some places is still peppered with hidden landmines. The Israeli government has tried to clear them, but who knows if they’ll ever find them all? In the meantime, to protect the naive and foolhardy tourist from inadvertently blowing themselves up, there are fences everywhere with stern warnings to STAY ON THE PATH! And we DID. Yes, indeed we did.
Looking back now, we’re so thankful we heeded those cautions. We didn’t stray off the safe paths and become a tragic statistic. AND the memory also reminds us to be ever mindful of other warnings heard through the years. Stay on the road! Stay in line! Stay in the boat! Stay away from the edge! Stay in the Church! Whatever you do … STAY!
My grandfather was stoic—not ever one to show his emotions. Much. Carl F. Ebert was a veteran preacher of the gospel from the earliest days of the 20th Century Pentecostal movement. He was straight as an arrow and hard as flint. In his views of eschatology, Granddaddy would have been considered a “mid-Tribber,” and I’m not sure we all agreed with that view. But, in the last years of his life, his passion was to leave a clear, well-defined path of righteousness for others to follow—a lasting legacy of unshakeable FAITH.
I remember him, sitting at his wobbly kitchen table, pleading with us as his dimmed eyes looked off into an uncertain future. With unusual emotion and tears flowing freely down his craggy face, he pleaded, “Don’t do it! Don’t take the mark of the beast!”
It was his way of saying, “STAY ON THE PATH!!” Don’t be deceived! Don’t stray from what you know is right! Hold fast to the TRUTH of the Gospel!”
I’ve told our children—and children’s children—that Granddaddy would CERTAINLY rejoice to see OUR day! Not, perhaps, the increased corruption and sin in our present world, or even the technological advancements made in the last fifty years. But, how glad he’d be to see that the FAITH of our Fathers and the love of God’s Word has remained in our hearts, unchanged, stronger than ever—like an unbreakable cord lashing us to the mast of the Old Ship of Zion.
This good path (Proverbs 2:9 KJV)—THE WAY—was laid down by inspiration and instruction from the Holy Scriptures. The GOSPEL of life in Christ Jesus is a safe road for any people, any culture, any country, any century. It was not intended to restrict our movement, steal our joy, or force us to assume the gait of automatons. Quite the contrary! Its purpose was, and IS, FREEDOM and PROTECTION. For though the LORD’s paths are pleasant, there are still spiritual landmines left by the enemy in the uncharted territory along the way. The enemy of our soul does NOT want us to succeed, but to become nothing more than a casualty of faith.
Stay ON the path! It’s well marked in Scripture. It is sometimes a difficult one, with steep hills, sharp turns, and dark shadows. But, be assured, weary pilgrim, that it has been well-tended, cleared, and beaten smooth by the feet of those FATHERS (and MOTHERS) in the FAITH, who for years and years have gone before us, obeying the WORD, and following the leading of the LORD.
- “Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them THE WAY wherein they must walk …” (Exodus 18:20 KJV)
- “Train up a child in THE WAY he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV)
- “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is THE WAY, walk ye in it …” (Isaiah 30:21 KJV)
- “An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called THE WAY of holiness …” (Isaiah 35:8 KJV)
- “Because strait is the gate and narrow is THE WAY, which leadeth unto life, (though) few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14 KJV)
- “Jesus saith unto him, I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life …” (John 14:6 KJV)
- “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into THE WAY of peace. (Luke 1:79 KJV)
May we challenge one another to good works—may we honor our fathers and mothers of faith by committing ourselves to STAY ON THE PATH! It is indeed the path of peace, the road of righteousness, the highway to Heaven!
“This I confess unto thee, that after THE WAY … so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” (Acts 24:14 KJV)
