Clear Direction!

Emma had soccer practice last evening. This year, she plays on an all-girl team of 8-10 year-olds. Last night, her coach put her in the position of playing Right-Center for a scrimmage with an all-boys team. In this position, the player should remain on the right side of the field, typically towards the center, but can travel up and down the field as necessary if they get the ball and can dribble it towards a goal. If they find themselves on the left side of the field, unless they have the ball, they should return to their position on the right to defend that side. All of this knowledge about what a Right-Center can and cannot do was confusing to her. As a grown up, my brain can understand the concept of defending a position, anticipating where the ball will go, returning to position, knowing when to step out of your pre-described bounds when necessary, etc. But for Emma, it created a frustrating ordeal. She found herself receiving orders from three different coaches (head coach and two assistants). One would tell her to stay in position, then moments later another would shout for her to advance on the ball, and then another would yell for her to fall back, etc. As I watched, I was impressed at how Emma patiently complied with each order, but I could tell she was beginning to feel frustrated. After practice, I told Emma how proud I was of her for not just throwing up her hands and walking away. She admitted that she was very confused at having so many people shouting seemingly contradictory directions at her!

I am SO glad that God has made it simple for us easily-confused children!! For those people who believe that there are many paths to heaven, I say what a horrible and cruel idea! If that were true, I would be so very, very confused, like Emma was last night! One path would shout "This way!" and another would prompt me to change direction moments later. I would be tempted to follow whatever path my emotions prompted, only to become frustrated when my emotional wind shifted or I came to another ideological crossroads.

If there are many "true" paths to heaven, then, implicitly, there are also many false paths. How would one know the difference? What a treacherous journey it would be, wondering all the time if I had really chosen a "true" path and not a false one. Some argue, "Well, its the sincerity." In other words, as long as you are sincere in your faith journey, then God will let you into His heaven! Really? Then Hitler must be in heaven, for no one was more "sincere" in his beliefs than he. And the radical Islamists are certainly "sincere" in their religious beliefs! And how awful to believe in many gods, like the Hindus, appealing to one "god" for this, and another for that. Who could keep it all straight and not go crazy!?

No, God knows that giving us One way is the ONLY way to keep us from straying. He doesn't shout one direction one day, and then shout another contradictory order the next! He is never divided, and never flip-flops in His plan for salvation. What a relief! A clearly defined path to reach the goal! Thanks be to God for the Cross of Jesus Christ that, like a pin stuck in a map to reveal the traveler's destination, marks our path to eternity, and His blood covers the road I am to take among the many twisting, turning options that would lead me astray!