In the past few weeks all those who journey to Duluth on Highway 61 have been confronted with the road construction that maintains and improves access to our North Shore world. On this past Monday, as I sat frustrated and waiting behind the stop sign which the road worker held, I had time to ponder those signs and their messages to me.
For if I wanted to weave myself successfully amid the giant earth moving equipment on my right and the lumbering trucks on my left, I had to “stay in my place” and to “do as I was told.” After the traffic did begin to move and we were directed into that single narrow lane that twisted through the confusion and potential danger on all sides, I eventually did arrive in Duluth.
Bible readers of all ages have often been stopped to ponder the many passages of the Holy Scriptures, which claim to lead us in our journey here.
For instance, a quandary presents itself when we put various contrasting passages side by side. Jesus says, He
who is not with Me is against
Me. (Matthew 12:30)
and then again, … He who is not
against us is on our side. (Mark
9:40)
Such words can lead us to scratch our heads with the same bewilderment that comes with those fluorescent orange highway cones and sign-carrying road workers. For those who are prone to only thinking in terms of either/or the reflection can be, “OK, which is it? It has to be one or the other!” But an alternate attitude can be thinking in terms of both/and.
It is the second approach that sees motorists successfully through the road construction dangers in safety and on to their journey’s destination. Yes, both the construction markers and even the seemingly conflicting words of God can keep us safe as we journey through our life here.
To know where we are at all times is indispensable to the successful life. That is exactly what God asked of Adam and Eve. Then the
Lord God called to Adam and
said to him, “Where are you?”
(Genesis 3:9). Not
being in the right place can crush us, both “in time” and in “eternity.”
I guess that is why Christians can rejoice even in the twists and turns of their lives … all because the scriptures have taught them, “Therefore we were buried with
Him [Christ] through baptism
into death, that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of
life. … If then you were raised
with Christ, … set your mind
on things above, not on things
on the earth. For you died,
and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. (Romans 6:4 …
Colossians 3:1-2)
Many erroneously think that life exists only in the here and now. But Christians in the here and now continue to live their lives also in the there and then; for we sit at the feet of Jesus and join the apostle St. Thomas in saying, “Lord,
we do not know where You are
going, and how can we know
the way?” Jesus said to him, “I
am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.’” (John
14:5b-6)
Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium will
offer Spiritual Reflections. For
July, our contributor is Rev.
Dennis C. Schutte, pastor of
Life in Christ Lutheran Church.
Pastor Schutte has lived in
Cook County (Lutsen) since
2000 serving as Missionary
and Pastor.
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