Traveling the Road

When it came time for Jesus to step out visibly on the stage of history, we do not know from whence he stepped.  He could have still been in Nazareth tending his father's carpenter shop.  He could have left that shop and become like some hermit cave dweller with a religious group known as the Essenes.  Some say there is little we know about those years between his boyhood Temple appearance and his appearance at the Jordan River where He was baptized.  Actually, to speak of the little we know is an overstatement.  We actually know nothing about those years.  What we say we know is mostly educated guessing and speculation.    

One of the things we do know is that when He made the decision to go public and begin His Kingdom work, He almost immediately gathered a small group of men around Him.  Known as the Twelve Disciples, they were the ones who enabled Jesus to travel the road with companions.  They may not have always understood Jesus, but they were the ones who Jesus chose to stand alongside of Him.  The road of the Kingdom was not a road He chose to walk alone, but one He chose to walk with a small group of men close at hand.   

It is a sure reminder to us that we are not meant to walk the road of faith alone.  We need other people to share the journey with us.  It may not be as many as twelve, but we do need one, or two, or three, or ever how many God gives to us.  If we have a few faithful and trustworthy friends with whom we can bare out soul, we are blessed beyond what we can measure.  When the path gets rough and way too dark to see where we are heading, it is good to be able to reach out and take the hand of someone who is still walking with us.  And, it is also good to be there with another when we can provide the needed hand.