by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

1 John 5:11–13

Just because you’ve made a mistake doesn’t mean God won’t forgive you.

This past year, my youngest son Matthew asked his girlfriend Katie to marry him. On the day of his engagement, he had everything planned out perfectly. My wife, daughters, and daughter-in-law took Katie on what she thought was simply a trip to have a special lunch time together. Matt had planned ahead to be waiting for Katie when she arrived.

Throughout that special day, as Matt prepared to drive to the conference room where he would meet Katie, he called me several times to reaffirm the directions I had given him. He and I had already traveled there before, but he never had to worry about directions—Dad took care of that. This time, however, he was making his own journey, and everything had to be just right.

People make many journeys in life. Perhaps you and your family have already or will soon make a vacation journey this summer. As someone once said, “The journey is half the fun.” Being together with family can lead to a memorable journey. But wrong turns and wrong directions can cause havoc on a journey.

Whether physical journeys or spiritual ones, each lead to a certain destination. Having the wrong directions can lead to an unpleasant end, both spiritually and physically.

On any journey, it’s a wise idea to follow the road signs as they guide the traveler safely to their destination. Similarly, we would be wise to follow the road signs on our spiritual journey. Over the next few days we’ll look at some spiritual road signs that will point us to move closer to God.

First though, before you can begin your journey, you must heed the “Freeway Entrance” sign. How many times have you known where you needed to be, but couldn’t find the right road to take you there? Oftentimes we all find ourselves looking for which road or freeway to get on.

Spiritually, you cannot reach your destination (relationship with God) without first entering the highway (salvation). If your goal is a relationship with God, the Bible gives one road to get there: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

You cannot get to God unless you first realize your need for a Saviour and trust Christ for salvation. Before you can begin your journey through life, you must enter the freeway of Christianity. To learn more this entrance, visit our website and read of how Jesus gave His life so you could know Him and know that you have eternal life.

To learn more about the ministries of Lancaster Baptist Church and Pastor Chappell, please visit lancasterbaptist.org, paulchappell.com, or follow him on twitter.

Daily Bible Reading
Psalms 29–30 | Acts 23:1–15