Back Alley Travelers

We’re all travelers in this world... Those who live for the flesh carry a backpack. Those who live for the spirit carry their cross. Those carrying a backpack tend to be at a wandering pace because their backpack is filled far beyond capacity and they’ve stashed all they can carry in their arms and anywhere they can stash the extra weight. The path is wide with many forks in the road and back alleys and packed with other wandering, weighed down, tired travelers. They’re weighed down by all they feel they must carry. They think all they have is all they have. If something in their grasp falls out of their hands they chase after it unsure of how they could go without it. Their motives are fear and anxiety. They wander everywhere looking for the next most valuable thing. That one thing that will satisfy their search and put their exhausting cycle of looking for something more to rest. But they find that nothing satisfies, and they must keep searching. But those who carry their cross bear a different kind of weight. They’ve packed nothing for the journey. They carry nothing but the Name of Jesus. The yoke is easy and the burden is light. The path is clear yet narrow. The travelers are few. But the pace is a little quicker because they know where they are going and they have their Guide. Their Guide goes before them, walks beside them and hems them in from behind. He is trustworthy and true and they know He is good. They go where He leads and follow His Words. He has an entire book on navigating the journey and the hope they have in Him. Things can get heavy and the road can get rough but they keep their focus steady because they have this hope. Their eyes are fixed on what’s ahead of them because they’re not searching for anything along the way. They have found what satisfies. They keep in step with their Guide knowing He will lead them Home.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"

Philippians 3:20 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me."

Matthew 16:14

"He told them: "Take nothing for the journey--no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt."

Luke 9:3

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Matthew 7:13-14

"You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me."

Psalm 139:5

"The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace"

Romans 8:6