Psalm 25:4-5a NLT

'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me...'

I am instinctively lazy when it comes to preparation for a seminar. I think spontaneity will win through and I back myself to do well once on my feet. Yet, there’s a lot to be said for some serious reflection and effort to refine my message so that it truly conveys what I think God is saying. This reflection is always about God showing me the right path in the situation into which he has placed me.

Another weakness is a tendency to make my presentation more about me, moving God to the margins. While my experience can offer a point of contact for my audience, it must only ever be a point, never the key message. Pathfinding is difficult, especially as each of us is invited to pioneer our own path with God. Where God leads me isn’t where God necessarily leads you. None of us can travel through life in the slipstream of another’s pilgrimage.

The point is that through Jesus, God is made known to humanity. We can find God and need not rely on the many voices that surround us across society today. The incessant traffic from social media, public commentators and Christian leaders may offer a suitable signpost, but the path is mine, and mine alone, to first discover and then to walk.

Discipleship is the privilege of learning from Jesus in the present. If the resurrection means anything, it is that God has beaten death, is alive and can be known. Such knowledge is neither a feeling nor a doctrine. It is, in fact, a dynamic friendship. This friendship is revealed through scripture and is one I must make the effort and take the time to build.

QUESTION: Where is God for you today? How well is that friendship going?

PRAYER: Lord God, thank you for raising Christ from the grave and opening the way to friendship and adoption into your family.