"Road"

Big four and six lane highways,

With traffic speeding through,

Afraid you’ll miss an exit,

That the GPS shows you.

The farm to market country road,

That winds through wood and field,

Planted crops and pastures green,

The hope for harvest yield.

The hogback roads less traveled by,

The traffic that we see,

And yet they lead to somewhere,

That we someday might be.

The dirt roads needing gravel,

The narrow bridges there,

Muddy with the winter’s rain,

Or dry dust clouds everywhere.

Before the roads the simple trails,

Where once pathways had been,

When walking or a-horseback went,

Took longer way back when.

But no matter where the travel leads,

Or places that we go,

It’s not the rate of speed we use,

Whether fast or slow,

But that the way of holiness,

Is followed day by day,

And that our destination,

Through Jesus is okay.

Make sure the road we travel,

Does not lead us astray,

But until the very end,

We trust Him and obey.

“A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.” (Isaiah 35:8, NAS)

When Isaiah spoke prophetically about the “highway of holiness” he was referring to those who would return from captivity to Zion. But he was also speaking by the Spirit about the lifestyle that the redeemed of the Lord would embrace as they journeyed in the Spirit toward heaven. The unclean were not allowed, only those washed by Jesus’ blood. it is for those who are intentionally following the Lord. And “fools” don’t just wander into it. It is only for those who surrender their lives. Jesus called Himself the way, and He is the personification of the way to live.

Lord, teach ‘us to walk on the highway of holiness, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mikel Donahue, used by permission. Thanks, Mikel, and God bless you.