Our family was able to enjoy a few days at Yellowstone National Park this summer. Of course, one of the celebrated attractions of the park is Old Faithful and some of the other geysers.
While walking along the path to the geyser area there were several signs warning tourists to stay on the designated paths. One such sign showed a kid around 10 years old standing on the hole of a geyser getting sprayed with hot water while his mother looks on. That was their way of saying, ‘Don’t do this!’
The signs urged tourists to take the warnings seriously. In fact, back in 2016, a 23-year old man reached down to touch the water in a boiling pool on the edge of the famous Yellowstone Caldera, a highly volcanic area, and slipped and fell in. This all happened on film as his sister was recording on her camera.
Rescuers were summoned and tried to retrieve him but it got too dark. Due the acidity in the water and temperatures there was nothing left the next day. It’s not safe to step off the path and venture out into forbidden territory.
Of course, the same is true in the spiritual realm. God has marked out paths for us to walk on and it is not safe to abandon or forsake those time-honored paths.
This path includes things like church fellowship, worship, biblical preaching, prayer, and reading of God’s Word. We never need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to church and Christianity.
John Piper once stated, ‘Don’t waste your life on experiments. There are proven paths. They are marked out in the Word of God. They are understandable. They are precious. They are hard. And they are joyful. Search the Scriptures for these paths. When you find them, step on them with humble faith and courage.’
Whatever noise and distractions are taking place around us in the world, it’s nice to know that our Father still cares about us enough to tell us what path to stay on. The path of safety: faith in Jesus Christ and His cleansing blood, walking in obedience to His word, participating in the body of Christ.