Wednesday, March 5, 2025: (Ash Wednesday/Lent One)

                The Lenten Journey: The Road Less Travelled

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you…” (Genesis 12:1, New Living Translation)

               The season of Lent is about reflecting on the choices which we make in our lives. Which fork in the road did we take or are contemplating to take? Are we making healthy, faithful decisions? Where did we go wrong, perhaps? Moreover, it is delving deeper into our walk with Jesus. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Matthew 7:13) The Lenten journey is about the nature of making of that walk with Jesus on roads that are far less travelled.

                We begin with Sarai and Abram. They lived in or near the ancient town of Ur, in what is now Iraq. They were probably simple, nomadic, animal herders, tending sheep and goats, maybe camels for their living. They come from a long line of such folk, with family roots deeply established for generations in this territory. We can assume that they accepted that this was their lifestyle. It was in their past, present and would be in their future. Like their forbears, the couple had settled into the familiar, daily routines of their lives. They seem to be prosperous enough, satisfied and probably content with where they were and what they had. They lived here; they would die here. Life went on.

                But God shows up, out of the blue, and radically throws their everyday lives into a sea of change and unfamiliar territory. Sarai and Abram were told to leave everything and everyone behind and venture into new lands and thereby new experiences, trusting only that God will lead them onward. “Go the land I will show you.”

                Now any of us might insist on some better GPS than simply the words “Go”. Some sort of detailed map.  We might insist on some guarantees about the benefits and rewards of such a venture. Where are we going? What road will we take? How will we know we are on the right path? Will it take long? Are we sure that this God can be trusted?

                It is hard to leave the familiar behind. It is difficult to let go of the past. It Is tough to try something new. It is scary to leave behind loved ones and go off on some new venture. Change can make us anxious, fearful, wary, reluctant, or just plain unwilling and stubborn.

                Yet, Abram and Sarai obey; always faithful that Abram! It was not a straight line to the promised land by any stretch of the imagination. It had a lot of twists and turns. It had detours. It had obstacles. It had stumbles. But eventually, they arrived in Canaan, the promised land, and settled there. (Genesis 13:12) But the road less travelled was not always smooth or convenient or welcoming. We can give them credit for their perseverance, their faith in God, their trust and obedience, their courage and fortitude. They weren’t perfect; they wavered a time or two; but by the grace of God, they ended up where they were supposed to be. “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)

                My lesson is this. This Lent, let us listen carefully to the direction which God sets before us. Let go of the past and look forward to new possibilities. with Jesus leading the way. In John’s Gospel, Thomas, always the sceptic, challenges Jesus’ word about knowing the way ahead. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5) Jesus replied with those iconic words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (14:6) We know the way because we hear and heed the Voice of Jesus. His is the Voice now which cries in our wilderness journeys and leads us out and brings us into a safe and premixing place. “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

                Be bold this Lent. Be courageous. Be prepared to walk today where Jesus walked. “If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.” (2 Corinthians 3: 9-12)

                Put on your best walking shoes this Lent. God has something planned for you!

 Dale