Valerie Rae Hanneman
Genesis 3:9 "But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"" (NIV)
One year my sister invited the family to go to the Caruthers Fair with her. Fawn was 11 and Steven was 5 at the time. Because the fair was a smaller event than the Fresno Fair, Fawn had my permission to go off with her cousins. Steven, however, had to stay with me. Before we got to the gate, Fawn, Steven and I had a "Recitation of the Rules." The "Recitation of the Rules" is when I say the rules of conduct and they repeat them back to me. For Fawn the rules were to stay with her group of cousins and I wanted to see her at least every hour. For Steven the rules were to stay with me, do not move from my side, do not wander off, do not go look at something without me, and if we got separated he was to stand in one spot until I found him - he was not to move from that spot no matter what until I found him. My sisters teased me about my kids reciting the rules back to me and called me "overprotective." I just laughed at them (while thinking that it was better to be overprotective than sorry.) The fair was a lot of fun. Because it was small Fawn and her cousins were crossing our path about every half hour so I didn’t worry about her. . The food was great! We were walking down the midway eating ice creams when my sister saw a friend and we stopped to talk to her. After a couple of minutes we started out again and I looked down for Steven and to my absolute horror - he was not there. Although on the outside I was fairly calm as I sent my mother and two sisters in different directions to look for him - inside of my head I was screaming in panic. All I could think of was finding my child - restoring him back to me. I searched and I finally found him standing with a police officer next to him. Steven was crying, and when I saw him I started running for him. I scooped him up into my arms and held him as he cried against my neck. I am not sure which one of us was more relieved! As I was comforting my son, the Police Officer told me that he had tried to get Steven to come with him to the lost & found booth but that Steven had absolutely refused to move from the spot he was standing in. Apparently he had told the Police officer that I was going to be mad because I had lost him and if he moved from that spot it would just make me madder. After my son calmed down he told me that he had been walking and watching the bottom of my legs as he ate his ice cream and when he looked up he saw a woman with dark hair and "her rear end was bigger than yours, mom!" (Hum-m-m-m). He immediately looked around - and when he couldn’t see me he remembered the rules and stood in that spot and waited for me to find him.
Steven didn’t intend to get lost, he thought he was following the right pair of blue-jeaned legs - but he wasn’t.. He just took his eyes off my legs for a moment - but that moment was all it took to get him on the wrong path.
There is another parent frantically seeking His lost children. Father God is unrelenting in His desire to bring His children back to Him. But we have gotten on the wrong path - we are following the wrong pair of legs. We started going down the wrong path in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of good and evil. They tried to hide from God, but Father, (Whose mighty heart broke the instant Eve touched the fruit,) came looking for them. He came calling, “Where are you?” Even as He sent them from the Garden, He made a way for them to be able to come back to Him.
Steven thought he was on the right path, his intentions were good - he thought he was following the right legs. But all his good intentions didn’t change the fact that he was on the wrong path and following the wrong legs and even though he didn’t realize it - he was lost.
There seem to be a lot of paths back to Father. And they look like they are the right paths. Maybe you have heard some of them. “If I am good enough I will get into heaven.” “It doesn’t really matter what you believe in - God, Allah, Buddha - as long as you truly believe” These paths sound right - but they are the wrong pair of legs. If these are the legs you are following - then you are on the wrong path. I wish that I could be good enough to get to heaven - but how good would I have to be to measure up to an absolutely perfect God? Father’s answer is clear, “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10) And as I think back on my life I know that Father is right. I can never be good enough to earn heaven. That is the wrong path back to Father. But maybe if I just choose something - anything - to believe in and I truly believe in it as hard as I can. Again, God’s own words answer that path. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no person comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) There is only one path back to Father and no matter how hard you believe that you are on the right path if it is not the one path - then it is the wrong path.
Stop and stand in one place. Take a good look at the legs you are following and the path you are on and make sure that you are on the right one. Father does not hide the path back to Him, more than anything else, He wants you back. For those who are on the “If I am good enough” path He says,”It is by grace that you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:7-9). He says that we can’t earn the path to Him by being good - but He is going to give us the path as a gift. To those who believe that believing in anything is okay, He says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12) There is only one name by which Father gives us salvation, and it is not Buddha, Allah, Dali Lama or Steve McQueen. It is Jesus.
Adam & Eve brought sin into the world and they brought the penalty of sin - death. And that penalty applies to everybody who has ever sinned. But God gave us a path, some legs to follow, so that we would not have to pay that penalty. He sent Jesus to die in our place. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not die but have everlasting life.” The right path back to Father is believing in Jesus.
Are you on the right path? If you are not - it is not too late to get on the right path - Father is searching for you to bring you back to Him. If you are on the wrong path, please stop and look for Father. Call Fresno First Baptist ((559) bap-tist) and ask to speak to one of the pastors, call (888) Need-Him and speak to someone from the Billy Graham Organization, or contact me at valerie@fresnofirst.org and let us help you get on the right path to Father.
Father God, my greatest joy is that I am on the right path to You and that Yours are the legs I am following. I pray for those who read this that are not on the right path. Father, open their eyes and their hearts to You. Show them Your path and bring them home to You.
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Posted by Valerie at February 12, 2005 04:03 PM