I love history. For several years I had the privilege of lecturing on Church History at Tilsley College in Motherwell. At the beginning of the first lecture I always stressed that life is too short to live by experience alone. We need the collective wisdom of centuries of thought and reflection on how to live well as followers of Jesus in this world. I imagined that all of this insight was like standing on the shoulders of giants. We might be able to see further than they could but if it wasn’t for them we would not be able to see at all!
Over the last couple of weeks I have embarked on a journey through the Old Testament prophecy of Jeremiah. It’s not an easy read but it is full of precious statements that have guided and blessed the people of God over the centuries.
One such pronouncement invites us to find our direction for today from the insight of the past.
Here is what Jeremiah says,
“Stand at the crossroads and look,
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls”.
(6:16)
Jeremiah invites us to a moment of decision:
“Stand at the crossroads and look…”
What he points to here appears to be a moment of crisis. He urges us to stop and not to make a hasty or rash decision on which route to take. The weight of the verse suggests that the wrong course could lead us down a dangerous path. Indeed, the reality for the people of Jeremiah’s day is that “each pursues his own course” (8:6).
We make decisions, big and small, every day of our lives. Most of them are of little consequence to our way of living (e.g. what will I wear today?). Some can be quite momentous (e.g. will I accept this job, or not?).
My commitment to follow Jesus Christ as a teenager has been the seminal decision of my life. He declared, “I am the Way” (John 14:6) and urged his followers to choose the challenge of walking the narrow road above the ease of walking on the broad road (Matthew 6:13-14).
As we step into each new day, we face afresh the call to walk the way of Christ before our own misguided sense of direction. “Let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
The (daily) moment of decision leads to a request for direction:
“…ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it…”
Jeremiah urges us to reject the prevailing trends of contemporary culture and seek the paths that the ancients have trod. It’s the way that Abraham, Hannah, David and Daniel walked. It is the path of grateful obedience to Word of God. They were sure-footed because the ground on which they stood was level, firm and secure. It was “the good way”. It was God’s way.
I begin each new day by reciting the words of the Apostles' Creed in a spirit of praise and gratitude. It reaches back to the second century and has been a summary of orthodox Christianity ever since. When the Christian faith is being undermined in some quarters I would rather trust what the centuries say against the hours.
The journey for Jeremiah leads at last to a promise of rest:
“…you will find rest for your souls”.
Those words echo down until centuries until the Word made flesh declared:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Because of Christ, the Way, we can travel light as we walk through this world.
(picture - The Hermitage, near Dunkeld)
