A traveler needs a guide in his/her journey. If not so it is sure that s/he might lose the way and end up elsewhere than the desired goal. The digital world has taken pace of life to the extent that the route one is to travel and the guidelines for the same are available at one’s finger tips today. Not even a comparison with those olden times is possible when people travelled on foot for miles and lost their ways time and again in that journey to the scenario around us today. There were street lights all along the roads. They were there for the passerby to see the path properly and tread on his/her journey. They assisted the travelers to reach to catch the right direction. Like street light there are many others assisting factors on the sides of the road. All that assist a person on his/her journey can be either seen as a light on their path, a direction or even a co-passenger.
Word of God has proved beyond doubts through the annals of history that it has been, is today and will be for the ages to come, a light on the path of the human beings who are on a pilgrimage on this earth towards heaven, the eternal life. It is not a comparison of the Word of God to a mere street light that guides the traveler, but a reality that has been tangibly experienced by thousands of people across the globe through the width and breadth of history. When they were lost on their way, they turned towards the Word of God and found right direction; a direction that certainly took them to their goals. Testimonies of people who have relied upon the Word of God and have succeeded can’t be contained in volumes.
Word of God guided the Israelites
The Old Testament is clear when it says that the Israelites, the chosen people of God, after they were delivered from the slavery in Egypt, travelled for long forty years through wilderness and deserts in pursuit of the Promised Land. Yahweh, their God promised them that they would enter and live in a land where milk and honey flowed. It is in pursuit of this land of promise that the Israelites travelled for those many years. What guided them all through these years in wilderness was nothing but the Word of God spoken by God himself and at times through the prophets and leaders of the people. God guided them every moment, irrespective of day and night, summer and winter. Under his guidance, except for those moments when they took their own directions, the people always found their goals and were never straying in the desert.
God spoke to them on his own and through various people according to the time and need. Whether spoken through others or on himself, they were all but directions to his people on their journey in the desert; how they were to proceed, on their way as well as in their lives. At times the people realized this fact and did as God spoke to them. But other times, either deceived by material attractions or by pride they preferred their own ways to that of Yahweh. There, they failed, they couldn’t reach the goal. Every time they followed the Word of God, they found themselves on the right track and were able to succeed.
Are we guided by the Word of God?
Science has improved to the extent that the human beings are able to direct themselves and don’t need an extra giver of directions to them. Science has taken human beings out of this earth, into the vastness of the universe, into the world of stars and galaxies. Today the entire universe seems to be guided and directed by pure science. It is in this juncture my faith as a Christian, my life as a believer is being challenged by the world. The world proposes many directions to us that can lead us into luxury, comfort, pleasure and all the vanities of the world. The number of people following the world is increasing minute by minute. People knowing and understanding the value of the Word of God are either so busy that they have no time for the Word or are not convinced of its worth. Those who have known the word and experienced its power have thrown away everything and have owned the Word of God. They are living a life guided by the Word and are contented with this life.
Am I directed and guided by God or by science? Do I find solutions to the problems that arise in my life from science or from the Word of God? Do I look for guidance in scientific principles so that I can reach my goal? Have I known the Word of God? Do I know the power of the Word of God? Let’s ask ourselves some of these questions and find if we can fall into the track of the Word of God. Guided by the Word we shall never be straying. We shall never lose sight of our goal. Cling on to the Word of God!
Fr. Rajesh P