Your Life as a Spiritual Road Trip

Well, my wife and I enjoyed the trip down here. I've taken a lot of road trips in my life, and this was a fairly uneventful road trip. It's about almost 200 miles from my house to here. I didn't have any flat tires, although I did have to actually pump up a tire that looked low to me and was low before I left today. So I think it'll be okay on the way back. It must have a slow leak of some kind. Anyway, it was a good road trip overall. There weren't any killer storms that I had to deal with. I wasn't hit by any severe rain or thunder or lightning. I didn't see any tornadoes on this trip. My car didn't break down. I didn't lock my keys in the car. That's always a good thing. I wasn't in any accidents. In fact, I didn't even see any accidents along the way. I didn't even run into much construction, which is quite unusual. Especially in the Dallas area, there's construction everywhere. So nothing eventful. No big bad traffic jams or anything like that. I've certainly had a lot worse road trips than this one today. But you can probably remember some very difficult road trips you've had in the past.

I know I can. I can remember some painful ones. Some really long road trips where it seemed like so many things went wrong on the way. And you know, on these road trips that we take on a fairly regular basis, we encounter many crossroads. We have to make a decision as to which road to take to stay on the right path to keep moving in the right direction. So today, what I'd like to talk about is your life as a spiritual road trip. And you know, there's some things that we need to address regarding some of the spiritual crossroads that happen in our lives. There are some important spiritual principles and lessons that we can learn from considering our spiritual lives. As a spiritual road trip, a spiritual journey. And along that spiritual road, there are some very important crossroads that we're going to have to negotiate. And the more we seek God's direction and the more we seek His guidance, the better and the more successfully we will be able to negotiate those spiritual crossroads. So today, I'd like to share with you several guidelines for your spiritual road trip. Your spiritual road trip called life. You know, we all have a life. And we're on a journey. So the first principle to consider is typically on any long road trip, the traveler always has a clear destination in mind. Now, I know sometimes people just would go out and do some Sunday driving, and they would just go out to relax and drive around.

But with the price of gas these days, not too many people are doing that anymore. It's more expensive, although it's been nice to get a reprieve. I seriously doubt it will stay down here forever. But it's nice to have some lower gas prices. So typically, we have a clear destination in mind. And along the way, again, there will be certain crossroads that we're going to have to consider to stay on the right path.

Generally, nobody leaves on a long road trip unless they know exactly where they're going, unless they know where they want to end up. So that was true today. I mean, Center for Creative Living, that's where we were planning on going, and we made it here. We had a clear destination in mind. We didn't take any bad turns. We didn't end up going somewhere else, like liberal Kansas.

We stayed on the right path. Now, if you didn't have any idea where you wanted to end up on a long road trip, you would certainly wander aimlessly around. You'd burn up a lot of gas. It wouldn't make much sense. Those who don't know where they're headed spiritually also stumble around a lot. They take a lot of detours. They run into a lot of construction. They get lost frequently. So spiritually, we really need to have that clear destination in mind. And it's amazing how many people don't. You know, they go to church perhaps every Sunday, but they really don't have a very clear destination in mind. They have some kind of a general feeling of going to heaven. And I don't know what they think they're going to do for the rest of eternity, but they don't really have a very clear picture.

And even we see through a glass darkly in many respects. But we do know that God's kingdom is that destination that we're all headed for. In Matthew 6, 33, and I know you're all quite familiar with this verse, it clearly says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So it's not just God's kingdom, but the only way you'll be there is if you learn to become righteous.

It doesn't mean you have to be perfect, but it does mean you need to become righteous. You have to seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness. And in Psalm 16, verse 11, King David says that God, when he says about God, he says, praying to Him, you will show me the path of life in your presence, His fullness of joy. At your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore.

So David was headed for the kingdom of God. He had a clear destination, a path that he was on, and he knew where he was going. He wasn't perfect, however, was he? You know, he made some grievous sins, did some things that he certainly paid a price for. But nevertheless, he always had his mind on the kingdom of God and heading in that right direction. And he was a repentant person, and he was a righteous man.

One of life's first crossroads for our children, and I'll talk to you children here for a moment, and that's you young children out there like Hannah and Samantha and Nathaniel and Robert and all you guys, every one of you, Bubba, you know, all of you need to keep this in mind.

As a child, are you going to honor your parents or not? That is a crossroads in your life, in your life and on your journey. You have to decide whether you're going to listen to your mom or your dad or both of them and do what they tell you to do and stay on the right path because it usually doesn't go very well when you disobey them, does it?

In fact, you should expect that things aren't going to go too well if you decide not to obey your parents because God clearly says... well, actually, Paul says it for God in Ephesians 6. Let's go there for a moment.

Ephesians 6, we'll read verses 1 through 4. So this is directly said to you children.

Paul, the Apostle Paul, says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. It's the right thing to do is to listen to your parents and obey them. Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. So there's a promise that comes along with honoring your parents, and that is to live long upon the earth. So honor your parents, follow them. In general, that is a principle that God has put in place. It doesn't mean there aren't some exceptions to that. Someone may honor their parents and they still may die prematurely. That does happen at times. But in general and overall, that is certainly a promise that if we honor our parents, we're going to be blessed. God's going to bless us and give us more time here on the earth. Verse 4, and you fathers... So now I'll talk to you fathers for a moment. Do not provoke your children to wrath. That's another crossroad. Are you going to provoke your children to wrath? Or are you going to treat them properly, as it says, but bring them up in the training and the admonition or the warning of the Lord? So parents, moms and dads, have a responsibility to their children. And children have a responsibility to their parents. Again, the first step is to have a clear destination in mind, and that should be God's kingdom. So in order to do that, of course, in order to be in God's kingdom, we have to seek first the kingdom of God, and we have to seek God's righteousness, and we have to obey God. We have to keep His commandments. We have to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And every time we're tempted to do something wrong, that is a crossroad. And you get to decide if you're going to stay on the right path or if you're going to take a detour and do something that you shouldn't. So that's the first step to consider on this journey called life. What are you going to do when you get to those crossroads? Are you going to do the right thing and stay on the right path? Or are you going to decide to do something you shouldn't and suffer the consequences? Because remember what the Bible says, be sure your sins will find you out. And the Bible also talks about there are curses for disobedience and deciding to go against God. But there are also blessings for doing the right thing and for staying on the right path. Let's talk about a second principle in regard to these long road trips that we take. On a long road trip, it's important to pay attention to the signs. Because if you pay attention to the signs, you're more likely to stay on the right path. If you don't pay any attention to the signs, and you just keep on driving with your mind filled with other things, and you're not watching the signs along the road, you could easily get off on the wrong path. Now, in Proverbs chapter 4, God tells us something here through King Solomon.

Proverbs chapter 4, verse 20, let's find the book of Proverbs. Chapter 4, beginning in verse 20.

Listen up, all of you, sons and daughters. Incline your ears to my sayings, and do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. So pay attention. There are signs out here. For they are life to those who find them, and they are health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it springs the issues of life. So be careful what you fill your heart with, and what you think about, and what you consider, and what you do each day. Put away from you a deceitful mouth. So be careful what you say. Put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. And ponder the path of your feet. In other words, again, pay attention to where you're going, where you're walking. And let all your ways be established, and do not turn to the right or to the left. And remove your foot from evil. So don't be doing anything that would be considered evil. That would be against God, against His commandments and ways. Pay attention to the signs. Be alert. Now, in Isaiah 30, it talks about the rebellious, disobedient children of Israel. The children of Israel were a chosen nation. They were a chosen people. But unfortunately, they were a rebellious bunch of children. And they were stiff-necked, the Bible says. And they didn't always humble themselves and go the way God wanted them to. And so they paid a terrible price for it. Let's look at verses 1-3. Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel, but not of me. In other words, they're listening to someone else. They're not listening to God's counsel. Otherwise, they would be doing it God's way. So they're not following God's signs, but they're following someone else's. And who devise plans, but not of my spirit. That they may add sin to sin. Who walk to go down to Egypt. Again, Egypt is symbolic of sin. They want to go back to Egypt and have not asked my advice. To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh. And to trust in the shadow of Egypt. So they're wanting to go back to Egypt and back to sin. Therefore, the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame. And trust in the shadow of Egypt. It shall be your humiliation.

So God clearly humiliated the nation of Egypt. He sent plague upon plague upon plague upon plague upon plague on them. And he says, but if you will get counsel from the Egyptians, or those who are following Satan the devil, then you also will have humiliation come upon you. Just as that nation had humiliation poured upon them.

For his princes were at zone, and his ambassadors came to Haines. Let's go back to verse 8 now. Drop down to verse 8. Now go and write it before them on a tablet. And note it on a scroll that it may be for time to come forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people. Have you ever considered yourself a rebellious person? Have you ever just stopped to think, you know, have I been rebellious ever in my life?

I think all of us would have to agree that there are times when we have rebelled against God and the proper way of doing things. We were stubborn. We were vain. We were proud. And we rebelled. And we didn't want to do it the way we really knew we should. We wanted to do what we wanted to do rather than what God wanted us to do.

For this is a rebellious children, a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord, who say to the seers, Do not see, and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us, write things. Because God did send the proper... He sent real prophets like Isaiah. We're reading from the book of Isaiah here. Isaiah was a true prophet of God. Do not prophesy to us, write things, but speak to us, smooth things. Prophesy deceits. Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. And that's exactly what happened because God finally rejected them. He allowed them to go into captivity. He allowed them to be punished. Now, He never left them nor forsake them fully because He will always take back anyone who is repentant. And when they were repentant, then they could come back. Now, let's go back to... Let's go down to verse 18. Therefore the Lord will wait that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice, and blessed are those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, and you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way. Walk in it. It's actually talking about a time to come when everyone will come to know the Lord, and everyone will begin to obey God properly. They will actually follow God's signposts and do what they're supposed to do. They'll stay on the right path. This is the way. Walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left, you're going to have someone helping you make the right choice. And no doubt, it will be the kings and the priests who are there serving along with Christ. Those who are firstfruits who have been changed into spirit, they will have a responsibility to guide those that live into the millennium. And as people have children and people are growing during the millennium and the earth is being repopulated, then people will have decisions that they'll have to make, and will be there to try to guide them and to help them make the right decisions. So that's a good thing. But they were a very rebellious, disobedient lot, the children of Israel. God tried to guide and direct them, but they would not listen. They would not obey. And so they were punished along the way. Again, God ultimately will have mercy on us all if we will learn our lessons.

In Psalm 119, verse 35, David says, "...make me to go in the path of your commandments." So we should look at the commandments as a path. And when we keep those commandments, we're on the right path that leads to eternal life. And also, David said in Psalm 119, verse 105, speaking about God, he said, "...your word is a lamp unto my feet. It is a light unto my path." So God's word will show us the way. Again, it will light the path for us. There will be signs along the way that we can follow.

Mile markers give us a good idea of where we are on our journey. So I'm glad on the interstate they have these mile markers. If you break down, you can call a tow truck and say, I'm at mile marker such and such. I'm between mile marker 313 and 314. And it's very easy to find you that way. They give us an idea of where we are along the journey. It's important that along our journey, we also have some short-term spiritual goals that will help keep us on the right path. It's like Bible study. That's something a Christian ought to be doing on a regular basis, of course. But these are mile markers that show that we're on the right path. If you aren't studying your Bible, then that means you're likely not on the right path.

Because that's a part of the Christian walk, is to study the Word of God, to read it, to study it. So if you're not doing that, then that should tell you that you're in danger of going off the path and going in the wrong direction. Same thing is true about prayer. That's part of a Christian life. Christians pray. That's what they do. And they pray on a regular basis. So if you're not praying, then you're not really on the right spiritual path. And perhaps you need to take that seriously and start praying more. Also, overcoming sin, changing, putting sin out of your life. That also is an indication. It's a mile marker on the path. So these are things that we should take stock of on a regular basis. And with Passover coming in just a few weeks—well, a few weeks, just a few months—it'll seem like just a few weeks. It'll be here before we know it. Every Passover season, we examine ourselves spiritually. We look back on the year, and we try to be brutally honest with ourselves. How have I fallen short this year? And what do I need to change? What do I need to repent of so that I can be cleansed from my sins and that Christ's sacrifice will once again be applied on my behalf? So when we take that wine and we eat that bread, we show that we are Christians, that we want to follow Christ, who is our sacrifice, the Messiah. So again, it's very important that we stay on the right path by following the proper signs along the way, knowing that we're on the right path.

In John 15, verses 9-10, John chapter 15, so this is from the book of John, which Bible Jeopardy at our... that's the weekend in Big Sandy. If anyone's going to the Big Sandy weekend, that's where we'll be having Bible Jeopardy from the book of John. John 15, verses 9-10, here it says, As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. So if we keep God's commandments, then we abide in His love. Obviously, if we're not keeping His commandments, if we're breaking any of the commandments, any of the ten, then we're dishonoring God, and we're on the wrong path.

So we have to all decide whether or not we're going to honor God by keeping His commandments. So that's the second principle we keep in mind on this path of life. On long road trips, you better pay attention to the signs, and you better know that you're on the right path.

A third principle to keep in mind on this trip is, remember that there are always present potential obstacles and temptations along the way. So you need to know that going into this journey is that there will be obstacles. There will be temptations along the way.

Some of the obstacles that a person encounters on the road I've already mentioned, like road construction, detours, bad weather, heavy rain, strong winds, snow, ice, hail, car trouble, car accidents. These are all obstacles along the way and things that can happen to us. The same thing is true spiritually. On this journey that we're on, sometimes we have a temptation to do things we ought not. For example, somebody that might have a little problem with alcohol, if they drive by a certain bar every day, and they see it, and they allow themselves to be tempted, and then they finally go into that bar, and they have a drink, and then they have another drink, and maybe a third, or a fourth, or a fifth.

That's obviously something that is against God's way. God condemns drunkenness. So drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. It doesn't have to be a bar along the road. It could be you bringing home a six-pack, or a twelve-pack, or whatever it is, and just drinking too much. So these are temptations that we have to resist. Even when you're driving, there are physical temptations. Sometimes I'm tempted to drive too fast. Are any of you ever tempted? And then a policeman comes along, and he kind of gets you back in line, and you're not so tempted.

In fact, I pretty much set my cruise now where if I go by a policeman, he's not going to pull me over. Because I don't like getting tickets. They cost way too much. I mean, I'm depressed for two days.

If I get a ticket, I just don't like giving my money away like that. So sometimes we're tempted to drive too fast. Sometimes we're tempted to get angry when we're out on the road, and we have to be careful that we don't do that. Sometimes we get angry with our passengers, and we have to be careful we don't do that. Sometimes our brothers and sisters that are in the car, and we're fighting with them, and that's annoying our parents who are trying to drive. They don't appreciate that. So you really shouldn't do that sort of thing, especially in the car, because that could make it dangerous.

If mom or dad, if they're getting kind of nervous on edge because of what they're hearing in the car, then they may not do as good a job driving the car. So we should be very careful in the car and not allow these temptations to get the best of us. Well, the path of life is full of trials.

It's full of obstacles. It's full of temptations. In 1 Peter 4, Peter talks about the fiery trials that we will encounter along the way in life. 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4, verse 12, Beloved, do not think it strange, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Okay, it's really something you should expect.

We know that Satan is a roaring lion. The Scripture says he's desperately wicked. He's out to destroy you. He's deceitful above all things. So you have to be very careful. It says our human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And then we've got Satan to encounter. So it shouldn't be a surprise if something goes wrong in your life.

I mean, it's the way it goes. You know, life isn't made to always go smoothly without any obstacles, without any problems, without any temptations. No. Of course, when we resist the temptations, then we do much better. So there's another cross-road that you should consider. Are you going to trust God during the difficult times in your life? Sometimes we have health issues. Eventually, all of us will have some kind of a health issue. Most likely, if we live long enough, we're going to have a health issue. And if we don't, that's certainly a health issue. So whatever happens, we're going to have some health issues along the way.

And are we going to trust God during those difficult times and know that God knows what He's doing, that God's in charge, that He's not going to leave us, He's not going to forsake us? It doesn't mean He'll do exactly what we want Him to, but we have to have faith that He's always there and He knows best.

Now, the prodigal son had no clear direction in his life when he left his father. He just knew he wanted to get away from the home. He didn't want to be under his father's direction any longer. So the prodigal son in Luke 15, he decided to take off, leave his dad, leave his family. Although he should have known better, he brought those trials upon him.

When he left, he left out and... Let's go to Luke 15 and just read a little bit of this. So he went on a road trip, didn't he? The prodigal son decided, I'm leaving home.

I'm going on a long road trip. So in verse 13, it says, And not many days after... This is after he took his inheritance, his father gave him his inheritance. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all of it together. He journeyed to a far country, and there he wasted his possessions with prodigal or wasteful living.

Sinful living, you might say, things that he should not have done. But when he had spent everything that he had, and he had substantial money, he should not have gone through this money so quickly. He might have gambled it away. He probably spent it on expensive things that he shouldn't have been buying. Maybe things he shouldn't have been doing he was spending a lot of money on.

And when he spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and that person sent him into his fields to feed the swine. It says he would have gladly filled his stomach with a pause that the swine were eating. But no one was giving him anything to eat. So he came to himself and decided, I'm a lot better off if I actually go back and work for my dad. Because he treated his employees, his servants better than I'm being treated here. So he came to a certain point of repentance and came back to his father after going off on this long road trip and paying the consequences of many wrong decisions. So let's be careful that we don't take any of these kinds of trips, you know, these road trips that lead to a lot of problems for us. So the third principle, again, is realize there will be potential obstacles and temptations along the way. So you have to do your very best to resist those temptations and stay on the right path.

Another principle, number four, is on any long road trip, there is the potential of falling asleep at the wheel. In fact, there was a young man on our softball team that fell asleep on the wheel. One morning, about 5.30 or 5 o'clock in the morning, he was going to work, and he fell asleep and basically had a head-on collision.

And I think, well, I think the person was killed in the other car. You know, he was not, he wasn't killed, but he was beat up pretty badly and wasn't able to play softball for quite a while. He did recover and was able to play again. But, you know, that was really a traumatic problem for him, you know, when he was falling asleep and causing someone's death and hurting yourself. In the meantime, that can happen on long road trips. So we have to be careful. It's foolish to leave on a long road trip unless you've had adequate rest and you've had enough sleep before leaving. If you're already fatigued when you leave on a long road trip, then you're asking for trouble. A traveler on a long road trip may need to stop periodically to refresh himself. I'll do that. If I start really feeling tired, I'll pull over, run around the car a few times, do whatever I need to do to wake up, get some coffee, do something to keep me awake. It's important that we learn to pace ourselves in life because we're on the long haul. This is last year's. I've been at this thing for 40 plus years in the church. Quite a while. And some of you have been around even longer in the church. So we're in it for the long haul. And so we have to pace ourselves. We don't want to burn ourselves out. So we have to make good decisions, wise decisions along the way. Staying focused, of course, is extremely important. We have to stay focused on God's truth, God's ways. Don't become weary in well-doing. The Bible warns us not to become weary in doing well. So even if you kept God's commandments for 40 years, if you stopped doing it, you could end up in the lake of fire. So you can't afford to do that, can you? You have to keep enduring to the end. You have to keep moving down the road, not falling asleep, but staying alert, staying awake. Good habits keep us on the right, proper path. So again, proper Bible study and prayer and fasting. On occasion, these are good practices and habits that will keep us on the proper path and will keep us from falling asleep spiritually. And if we're not doing these things, we're in danger of falling asleep. Now, I'm not going to go to Matthew 25, but I think most people are familiar with the parable of the ten virgins. They were all virgins, but five of them fell asleep, and they didn't have enough oil in their lamps. In other words, spiritually, they were not stirring up the Spirit of God enough. Perhaps they were becoming lethargic, taking things for granted, not doing what they should. They weren't keeping the Spirit alive in them, and they fall asleep, and then Christ returns. And the door to the wedding is shut, and they're not allowed to come in. So we have to be careful that we're not like the five foolish virgins who fall asleep at the wheel. Now, we have to endure. Another crossroad that you actually face every day as well, and it hits close to home, is what about your life's work? What you've decided to do on a regular basis. Your life's work. How are you approaching what you do every day? Are you a good employee? And are you faithful in your life's work? Remember what God says in Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. Again, you're not going to be able to do anything in the grave where you're going. You've got to take care of business right now. So don't fall asleep on the job either. Like physically, the work that you're doing is also spiritual in a sense, because you have to represent Christ well by being the kind of employee.

This principle applies to many aspects of our lives. We must not fall asleep at the wheel wherever we are, whatever we're doing. We need to be diligent and faithful. I remember one time my wife and I were on a visit to some brethren in Oklahoma, and it was late. It was like we must have left their house at 11 or maybe even past 11.

We had over an hour to drive home. I was exhausted. I drove for about 45 minutes. I just looked at Barb and said, I can't drive any longer. I am falling asleep right here and now. It's almost midnight. I'm out on the country road in Oklahoma. Not much traffic around, so I kind of just pulled off to the side a little bit.

I started to get out of the car, but I made a mistake. I was so tired that I failed to take it out of the park. The car is continuing to move. I'm halfway in and halfway out. I'm half asleep. I'm trying to get back in and put my hands on the brakes or my feet or something to stop the car. Now, that did sufficiently wake me up.

I was going to drive for a while, but not long because I still let Barb dry. She took over. She wasn't quite as exhausted as I was that night. There's one other incident I remember in Michigan. It's the same thing. I felt like I was drugged. I just couldn't go any longer. I couldn't drive. I was falling asleep. I've got to pull over right now. I can't go another second. I'm going to drive this thing in the ditch and kill all of us. So, Barbra had to come to the rescue then. But she doesn't drive very much. I do about 95% of the driving. But once in a while, if I'm really exhausted and can't go, she bails me out. But you've got to face it. If you're that tired, let her drive.

She's actually a good driver. Although I don't sleep very well when she drives.

That's what wakes me up.

Let's go on to a fifth principle before I get myself into deeper trouble here. Principle number five. On any long road trip, there is the potential of running out of fuel. We covered that to a degree already when we talked about the parable of the ten virgins. Because they ran out of fuel. They also fell asleep, didn't they? So, we can do both. We can fall asleep. We can also run out of gas. Now, I haven't run out of gas in a long time. That's because I learned some lessons earlier on. Because I did run out of gas a few times. And I don't like running out of gas because that's a real hassle. If you run out of gas out on the road, especially if you're out on a country road and you're miles from a gas station, you know, that's just not much fun. Now, one time, my wife accused me of running her out of gas. And that's only because I failed to get gas, brought it home. She got in it the next day, drove about five miles and ran out of gas.

Now, if we had a gas station, she's only two miles from the house if she would have just stopped there. But she didn't... one mile from the house, yeah. Well, she didn't realize... You ran out of gas one mile from the house? Oh, only one mile from the house. Sorry about that. I repented of that a long time ago.

When driving, it's also important to have a properly working gas gauge. Have you ever had a car that didn't have a properly working gas gauge? Man, that's a formula for disaster if you don't have a properly working gas gauge. And also, it's important to keep your eyes on the gas gauge. And it's important to get gas in plenty of time. So don't be so foolish and cut it close to the point that you are in danger of running out of gas.

I remember one time I was driving in Michigan, and I think I just failed to realize I was getting so low on gas. It was on a long trip. It was on the interstate, and it was a snowstorm. That's right. And I ran out of gas in a snowstorm in Michigan in the middle of winter. And I remember telling my wife, you know, I was out in the country, and I'm hoping that there's a gas station fairly close.

And nobody was stopping, you know. So I said, well, I'm going to go, and hopefully I can find a gas station soon. But if I'm not back within a half hour, I said somehow call the cops. But I'm not sure we even had a—we probably didn't even have cell phones. So I don't know—it seems I remember telling her something about call the cops if I'm not back at a certain time.

But I don't think—I don't even know if we had a cell phone back then. So anyway, I learned some lessons early on in my life. Don't run out of gas. So it's been a long time since I've run out of gas, and I hope to never run out of gas again. Let's see. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Let's go there. Here's a scripture that applies—it applies in a spiritual way, because the Holy Spirit is our fuel.

You know, we have to have God's Spirit to guide us and to direct us. So in 2 Timothy chapter 1, it talks about the Spirit of God. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6. Paul is talking to Timothy, a young minister, and he says, Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So we have to stir up the Spirit of God that's in us.

How do you stir up God's Spirit? Well, we already talked about some of the things that you do. You pray, you read your Bible, you study the Bible, you fellowship with brethren, you come to church. You don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

You're doing those things to stir up the Spirit of God, and God gives us lots of instruction. One of them is to be careful to avoid being unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. It's important that you don't go that direction, if at all possible. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it still works out well in some cases, but in other cases it doesn't. So it's typically best not to get yourself into that situation in the first place. So be careful to do what the Bible tells us to and to follow the instructions of the Bible.

The Bible tells us not to deal treacherously with our mates, and that we need to treat our mates with love and respect. If we don't do that, then we're certainly not stirring up the Spirit of God. We're not doing the right thing, and we're going to get ourselves in trouble. If we're not faithful in marriage, then we're going astray, and we're not stirring up God's Spirit in us. So we're going to pay a price for that. We're going to run out of fuel spiritually if we make those choices, and they're going to hurt us.

So on any long trip, remember that there's the potential of running out of fuel, so don't run out of fuel. Stir up the Spirit of God that God has given you.

The sixth principle on these long road trips is there is the potential of encountering bad drivers along the way.

Bad drivers. I've been out there. I've encountered some bad drivers in my day. There were probably times when I was a bad driver. Shouldn't have been, but to be honest, there were probably times when I was, you know, tailgating a little bit too much. You know, I always... What happens to me is I try to encourage someone to move a little faster. Or to get out of the lane if they're in the fast lane. They really shouldn't be in the fast lane if they're not going the speed limit. You know, they really need to get back there where they belong. So I try to get a little close to encourage them without getting too close.

But to me, those are bad drivers. People that clog up the faster lanes, sometimes they're the most dangerous drivers because people are impatient these days, especially in Dallas. I mean, people are driving... Someone mentioned beforehand, yeah, 85 miles an hour.

If you're not driving 80, you're, you know, you're getting past left and right, which is basically true. I mean, they do drive fast in that area. It's a fast-paced area. And it's important to drive defensively because a lot of times people aren't paying attention.

They're on this little thing here, you know, called a cell phone. And sometimes they're... You can see them. They're having a bad conversation. Have you ever noticed somebody yelling, basically screaming at someone? And there's only one person in the car. So you know they got someone on the phone and they're not happy with something. And I'm thinking, I want to get past that person. I don't want to hang around too long because they're distracted. You know, they're not taking care of business.

So on any long road trip, you're going to encounter some bad drivers. You know, I remember... Actually, it was not long ago. I think I was driving down to San Antonio for the weekend. And you know, there's a road down there, believe it or not.

85 miles an hour is the legal speed limit. 85! I couldn't believe it. Here I am driving 85. And it clearly says, do not get in the left lane unless you're passing someone. Well, there was a person that was driving about 70 in the fast lane, 85 lane. So I came up on this person, you know, because I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm driving the speed limit in the left lane because I'm passing people. I'm wanting to get where I need to go.

All right, well, this person is going real slow. So then I try to encourage her to get over where she belonged. She doesn't appreciate it, so she puts her brakes on. Yeah, can you believe that? Putting your brakes on in the left lane. So I backed off because I wasn't so stupid and crazy to try to push her too much. So I backed off and eventually she got over. I didn't really want to pass her on the right.

I think there were other cars on the right. I couldn't really pass her on the right. You really aren't supposed to pass on the right anyway. So anyway, I'm patiently waiting, and finally she gets over. And I couldn't resist but looking over at her as I was driving by, and she was looking at me too. And she didn't have a happy look on her face. And I just went... I mean, I wasn't mean. Now there was another time I was passing this woman. I was passing a woman. It was a similar situation. I was in Oklahoma. She's in the fast lane and she's driving slow, much slower than the speed limit.

And she's not getting over, and I'm trying to encourage her to get over. But she's not taking the bait. And finally she gets over, but as I pass her, she's doing something very unladylike. You know, an obscene gesture of some sort. I didn't gesture back at her. That's what I'm saying, though. There's some bad drivers out there on the road. So you have to really be careful when you're driving. Drive defensively and don't get too uptight. You know, if someone's driving too slow in your lane, just relax and keep it all in perspective. I had a truck driver actually run me off the road once. Thankfully there was a shoulder.

I don't know if he didn't know I was there or what, but he literally just ran me completely off the road. So you just don't know what you're going to encounter out there. From a spiritual perspective, there are quite a few verses that do address this issue. In Psalm 27, verse 11, David says, Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of my enemies.

I guess bad drivers are my enemies when I'm out there on the road. But God, teach me your ways and lead me in a plain path. Pray for God's protection and guidance, too, before you go on a long road trip. That's important to do. Be praying about it. There are a lot of other scriptures in Proverbs. I'll just go through a couple of them real quickly. Proverbs 1, verse 15, My son walked not you in the way with them. Talking about evil people. Don't walk in the way with them. Straying your foot from their path. So don't be keeping company with people that are going to lead you astray.

In fact, there's a scripture that says, Bad company corrupts good habits. So if you have bad company around you, then it's going to wear off on you and you're going to end up paying a price for that. Proverbs 4, verse 14, scripture says, Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men. So don't enter into the path of the wicked. Stay out of that path. Go not in the way of evil men. In Proverbs 4, verse 15, it says, Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, pass away.

So stay away from anything that would be harmful or evil. Don't go there. Again, you're going to have some bad drivers along the way. You're going to have some bad influences. So especially you young children, be careful you pick good friends that are going to help you rather than hurt you. If all you do is get in trouble around certain people, you may want to pick a different friend. If you can't reform them, then you probably better leave them.

In Isaiah 59, verse 7, speaking of people like this, it says, Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Wasting and destruction are in their paths. So you have to really be careful. There are people out there that are destructive people that will harm you, that will hurt you.

Give them a wide berth. Just stay away from those type of people. Again, when you're out on the road, drive defensively. Expect things to happen. Bad drivers and things are going to happen. So just keep your cool and stay safe. And now, number 7, the last one. On any long road trip, it's really nice to have other family, to have friends and other drivers along. It's important. But I say the last point. Actually, I've got one bonus point. I've got two bonus points. Okay, I've got a few more points, but I'll go through them quickly.

On any long road trip, it's nice to have family and friends. I remember on a trip we took to Wyoming from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we were going on a YOU trip. We had a caravan, and everyone had CBs, and we were talking back and forth, and we were singing back and forth. It was a lot of fun. It was a long road trip. It helped pass the time.

Also, I remember driving in a... I was around Chicago in a rainstorm. That's when my windshield wipers decided to quit. Of course, you never know they're not working, except in a rainstorm. So anyway, it's starting to beat down pretty fast, so I've got to pull over. I guess I CB'd and said, look, my windshield wipers aren't working. I've got to get over. Someone says, have you ever tried Rain-X? Do you know what Rain-X is? Stuff's a miracle working substance. I went to a gas station. I got some Rain-X. I had never heard of it before.

I tried my windshield. I put this Rain-X on. I could drive all the way to Wyoming with windshield wipers that didn't work. Because the rain would just peel away. It was awesome. Sometimes friends can help you out by giving you some good advice like that. Spiritually, we need each other. We should welcome each other's company.

We're all part of the body of Christ. And of course, God and Christ are completely unified. There is great unity in the body of Christ. Actually, I like our name, The United Church of God. And I'm hoping one day we'll live up to it. That we'll all be united. That we'll stay together and work together. Spiritually, we need each other. We should consider everyone as a member of the body of Christ.

Everyone has something that we can learn from them. They have good points, even though they may have some bad points. They have some good ones, too. We should strive to live peacefully with one another. The Scripture tells us to be peacemakers. We should strive to do that. So that's point number seven. It's good to have family and friends. Other drivers along to help you if you're getting tired, to step in and drive a while. An eighth point. On any long road trip, there's the potential of getting lost. Have any of you ever gotten lost before? Well, you know, here in Oklahoma and in Texas, you don't have as good of an excuse as you do in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I'm telling you, Pittsburgh is death on drivers, because I'm the kind of person, if I miss my road, I think, well, I'll find it. I'll work my way back to it. But in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there's too many mountains, too many hills and too many crooked roads. And you can't get back to where you thought you could get to, so you have to just turn around, humble yourself and go back.

And that took me a while to learn, but I finally learned that. In Oklahoma, you can usually, you know, it's flat in most places, and you can... Ohio is the same way. Ohio was even better, because everything was a mile. A mile grid, you know, you could work your way around real easy and not get lost. But there is the potential of getting lost. Certainly in Dallas, Texas, there's the potential of getting lost. There's like a spaghetti network of roads in Dallas, you know.

There's some good roads, too. I mean, they do have a lot of good roads. Once you learn the system a little bit, it helps. But it's real important to stay on the right path and not get lost, obviously. In Psalm 139, verse 3, David says, "'You know my path, you know my lying down, and you are acquainted with all my ways.' So let God be your guide.

He knows everything about you. So let Him lead you and guide you. Proverbs 2, verses 8 and 9 says, "'He keeps the paths of judgment, He preserves the way of His saints.'" You know, God knows the paths of judgment. He knows the way to go.

He preserves His saints. He'll keep you on the right road if you'll trust in Him. "'Then shall you understand righteousness and judgment and equity.'" Yes, every good path. God will show you the good paths. Isaiah 42, verse 16, "'And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not.' I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them. Crooked things I will make straight. These things will I do unto them, and I will not forsake them." That's a promise God gives us. God will guide us. Christ will guide us. He will lead the blind.

We've all been blind spiritually in the past. God's opened our minds. He will continue to keep us on the right path. Also in Isaiah 2, a prophetic verse, "'And many people shall go and say, Come, you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' So God's law will keep you on the right path." I remember taking the wrong path in St. Louis, Missouri when we were moving to Oklahoma back in 1995, I think it was. Matt was 11 years old. Jamie was 14. And Barb and I were driving in separate cars. Of course, I was leading the way. And I went, I took the wrong road. She's honking at me to go. It was right near the golden arches. She's following me, and I think we didn't have cell phones back then.

So she's following me, and she's trying to get me to take the right path. But I wasn't listening or thought I knew what I was doing. So I went the wrong way, and thankfully she followed me in the wrong path. In this case, it worked out because without cell phones, I don't know if we would have found each other very easily. So we were able to get turned around. She followed me.

We got back on the right path. That can happen. It's important to have a special navigator, because there's always the potential of getting lost. It's nice to have a special navigator. That's when my son looked at me. He was with me. Barb's telling me that she's saying I'm telling the story wrong. I guess. Was he with you? He looked at me and said, Mom, now I know why you're the navigator. That's what he said. I know why you're the navigator, Mom. So in our journey in life, when you get to be older, 18, 19, 20 years old, as a young adult, you'll come to a crossroads.

The world will have its temptations. There will be lots of temptations out there. So are you going to submit to God? Are you going to repent? Are you going to seek His kingdom with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind? Are you going to go ahead and get baptized? Are you going to put it off forever? These are crossroads. These are choices young adults have to make. What are you going to do with the rest of your life? Are you going to make the right choices?

Acts 2.38 says, Repent every one of you and be baptized. That's what the Scripture clearly tells us to do. But some young adults will put off baptism almost indefinitely, it seems, year after year after year, and they don't want to make a decision. But there comes a time when you have to make some choices in your life. These are crossroads. Only you can make that decision, but it is something to talk to God about and ask Him, God, what do you want me to do here?

Last point, number nine. On any long road trip, it's really nice to have someone powerful looking out after you. Have you ever encountered God's intervention when you were driving? Any of you? I'd say a lot of you probably have. I remember this was in Oklahoma. We had a bad storm, a lot of snow, but then we had a gorgeous day. It was the Sabbath, beautiful day, sunny, the interstate was cleaned off, but there were some stacks of snow along the sides. Barb and I are coming back from Oklahoma City and we're actually going into Tulsa. It's right around sunset. We didn't realize it, but there were some black ice. That snow had melted, and right around sunset, it was starting to freeze up again.

We hit this patch of black ice, and I almost lost complete control of the car, but I was just getting control of it when we hit a second patch of black ice. Then I lost complete control of the car. In fact, I prayed and I just took my hands off the wheel, because I knew if I put my hands on the wheel, we're going to do this. Something was telling me, just give it up. So I just took my hands off the wheel, prayed, and the next thing I know, we're headed up this concrete embankment, which is on the left, as we're driving on the interstate. So we've got trucks driving 75, 80 miles an hour on both sides of me. And while I was in the left lane at the time, I think, probably passing. No, I don't think I was. Anyway, there's people, other vehicles around, but we're going up this concrete embankment on the side, because there's another road on top up here. So we're going pretty fast, but that car was spinning around a tire blue. It turned itself around and was ready to go back into I-44, where all these trucks and stuff were. But it stops right there, right on the edge of the road. So all we got was a flat tire out of the deal. So we felt very blessed, and we felt God certainly intervened and spared our lives that time, because we could have easily been killed. There was another time in Wisconsin. I'm driving along, and I'm following a church member who's got a bigger car than mine, heavier.

It starts to snow, and he's driving faster than I want to drive. I look over at Barb and I say, you know, I'm going to have to slow down, because I can't keep up with this guy. He's just driving too fast. Two seconds later, we go over an overpass. We hit ice. The car does a couple donuts at about 60-70 miles an hour. It hits the guardrail.

And then there's like a 500-foot chasm on the other side of that guardrail. I mean, when we looked and saw what was on the other side of that thing, we also felt God protected us, because we could have gone over the guardrail, through the guardrail. We could have all been killed.

As it was, the car was still drivable. We drove away, finished our trip, and made it back. We had to turn that one into the insurance, and they fixed the car for us. But no one was hurt. It was really awesome to have someone there, an angel, God, to protect us.

So on this spiritual road trip, again, God's never going to leave you. He's never going to forsake you. He will be there for you, but He does expect you to start doing your part. If you do your part, well, He's always going to do His part, regardless, but He may allow you to go through some things if you don't do it His way.

So today, we've shared a lot of principles in regard to this journey called life, this long road trip that we're on. We come to a number of crossroads as we're going through our lives. God says, don't turn to the right or the left. He says, stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life, because there's a wide road out there. That road leads to destruction, and many go that way. But there are few who will choose to stay on the narrow path. And that's where the endurance that Mr. Burke was talking about in the sermonette comes in. You've got to endure to the end. You've got to stay on that path. You can't become weary and well-doing. You've got to do the right thing.

And if you do that, you'll enjoy this journey a whole lot more. It will be a much better road trip for you, a much better spiritual road trip. If you can apply these principles, then your life's journey will be safer. It'll be happier. So we're all headed toward the kingdom of God, and we have all these crossroads that we have to negotiate successfully.

Let's pray for one another. Let's remember each other and pray that God will keep us all safe. It is important that we know very clearly where we're headed and how to get there. So we have to do our part through preparation, through staying focused, through being vigilant. Again, keeping God's commandments all along the way by listening carefully to our spiritual navigator, who is certainly our High Priest, Jesus Christ. So, brethren, seek God's direction, and He will keep you on the road to His kingdom.