| Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” |
When was your last trip?
But for me, it conjures up a car trip, one that takes you across several states.
We had those kinds of trips when I was a boy.
My grandparents lived in California, so it took two days to get there.
No one flew much in those days.
So, my parents packed us two boys into the backseat and my mother brought a metal cooler to hold drinks and sandwiches.
It took two days…and before the interstate highway system was finished, we took the old Route 66.
But my mother had a procedure for trips.
We belonged to the American Automobile Association, better known as Triple A.
She would call the local office of AAA and order what was called a “Triptik.” It was a set up paper maps bound together at the top with a comb binding.
They would highlight each section of the route. When you finished one segment, you flipped to the next page for the next one.
They unfolded to reveal a page with places to eat, places to stay, and what my mother liked most…interesting places to visit.
We never took a trip without one. Today, they have been replaced by the technological wizard of GPS. But the charm is gone.
One of the things I learned from looking back on those trips is the trip came to an end but there was always more coming.
The truth is life is a series of trips, but the journey happens all through life.
Solomon, when he wrote Ecclesiastes, took many trips into what makes the journey worth it.
He tried fame and found it empty, as he did with admiration, accomplishment, and wealth. Those were detours on life’s greater roadway.
And then, he tried to capture the journey. He concluded, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
The journey of life has a single thread that makes it worthwhile–it keeps God and his will at the center. If we stay to the route marked, we will get to the destination we desire.
So, let’s continue our journey. Just keep the roadmap close.
Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
