ON the way or IN the way

I've been reading "The Message" Bible a little recently, just for a change. For those of you who are unfamiliar with "The Message" it is a modern translation of the Bible with all the chapters and verses taken back out (they were not there to start with but added in much later to make it easier to find your way around) so that it reads like a book made up of historical accounts, poems and letters. The author is a bit of an embellisher and so it always ends up quite dramatic sounding but it puts the bible and it's message into our time......not merely by using modern words, like me and you instead of thee and thou, but by switching to modern examples and using modern language and sentence structure. It is really great for helping you see new exciting teaching in the Bible because it sounds so different that it feels like you've never heard it before, and because of it's modern context it's easy to see immediately how what the Bible is teaching is relevant to life in the 21st century.

So anyway, I read a verse in The Message Bible that i really liked this morning. It's in the book of Romans (which is in fact a letter written by Paul the apostle to the Christian Believers in Rome) but it is a quote from the Old Testament book of Isaiah (which is an account of the life and prophecies of a man called Isaiah, an Israelite who lived a long time before Jesus was born). The verse simply says:

"Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me! If your looking for me, you'll find me on the way, not in the way."

The verse is there to explain an earlier point that Paul is making but i love that phrase "ON the way, not IN the way".

It reminded me of an incident that occurred recently when Lindon and i were driving home. We were cruising down a country lane near our house when a calf from a nearby field wandered out in front of us. Instead of seeing the danger and turning back to the field of safety, (where all the other cows were) it did that ridiculously annoying thing that rabbits always do and set off in the same direction as we were trying to go. We could not get past it since any further movement forward on our part simply herded the poor thing further down the road and further away from the field of safety (where all the other cows were). Now, as i said earlier we were simply cruising home, it was a lovely summer evening and we were in no real rush to get to our destination so this whole incident was quite an exciting adventure for us. We stopped the car and i got out and attempted to establish friendly relations with the calf (here calf-y calf-y).

Unfortunately a man and his wife in a fancy Mercedes arrived at this point.......and they were not just cruising! These guys were trying to get somewhere and they had no time for a lost calf in the middle of the road. They weren't mean or unkind they just needed to get past and started shuffling impatiently to drive around us. Thankfully the calf decided to make a break for it whilst we were negotiating with the Mercedes man and squeezed past the cars and set off back up the hill toward the field of safety (where all the other cows were). Lindon did the honourable thing and ran up the hill and fastened the calf safely away and we drove home with a smile on our faces thinking of the cute little calf tucked up in the field of safety (with all the other cows)!!!

It's funny how the nature of our journey affects the way we approach the things we discover on our way. When your out for a scenic drive a tractor going 25 miles an hour is not really that big a deal but when your trying to get to work........

I like the idea that God has set himself in our path...... we will encounter Him. But it's up to us how we view that encounter. If we're focused on our own plans, set upon our own destination then talk of God merely gets in the way. But if we are looking for God, seeking to discover Him on our journey.......then eventually we will find Him.... somewhere along the way.