Ancient Paths

There it was once again.  I had spent so much time with that single verse some weeks ago and had finally moved on only to have it show up again the other day.  The very first chapter of a new read entitled, "Water from an Ancient Well," begins by remembering Jeremiah 6:16 which reads, "Thus says the Lord:  Stand at the crossroads, and look and ask for the ancient paths..."  As I bumped into this verse from Jeremiah once again in this book written by Kenneth McIntosh,  it made me aware of how the Word of God come to us without any sense of personal bidding.   

Many have been the times when we have read the Word and suddenly find ourselves facing a Word on the page which suddenly is filled with the smoke and fire of holy presence.  In those readings it seems that a Word is being spoken directly to us in a way that smacks of a personal moment of intimacy with the Spirit.  Even as a preacher sometimes hears a listener say, "Preacher, that was said for me,"  so does the Word often come to us in such a direct and personal manner.   

So, it was as I found myself once again before this Word about ancient paths.  Without much difficulty I remember some of the those ancient places which gave my spiritual life its birth long years ago.  On those paths are small churches, people of abiding faith, and wells from which I drank deeply in times of great longing and thirst.  I am grateful for those ancient paths.  While I have not always walked according to where they were taking me, they have kept me pointed toward home.