The Road Less Traveled

When Jeremiah spoke for the Lord saying, "Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls,"  (Jeremiah 6:16) those who heard the Word found themselves confronted with more choices than the two Robert Frost created in his most famous poem, "The Road Not Taken."   With Frost there were only two choices, well, maybe three if turning around was an option, but with Jeremiah, there were clearly four choices.  To stand in the middle of any crossroad gives the one who travels four very clear choices.   

As the Word is presented by Jeremiah, the best choice is not determined by a travel atlas, but by the purposes of God.  Pausing in the middle of the crossroad long enough to see which way points toward that purpose is time well spent.  It is the pausing which gives us trouble.  We are a hurried sort who by the time we reach the crossroad have already decided which way is the best way to travel.  We do not always remember at life's every juncture that we are at an important place and moment.   

Clearly, God guides us along the way and His Spirit is ready to grant the blessing of an inner nudge, but the final choice for the direction we choose and the purpose for our living rests in our own hands.  The Word of God tells us there is great value in following the ancient way even though it does not bear the markings of an oft chosen road to travel. What Robert Frost wrote at the end of his poem is true for us as we stand in the crossroad, "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."