So many choices. Not really!

Have you ever felt perplexed over a difficult decision? 9 times out of 10 it is because there are several options from which to choose. Lately, we have been trying to decide on colors of paint for rooms in our home. A local store offers these neat little containers of paint sample so you can come home and paint a small portion of the wall. It helps one visualize what the color will do with surrounding floor colors, drapes, etc. (Our one wall looks like a patchwork quilt of color.) Some colors look great and others....well, we should have left them in the store. I believe black would be a nice color for our walls. Tracie just rolls her eyes....

This morning I decided to chart a trip to move our son into his new home up in Luzerne county. Googlemaps is so comprehensive. It will offer several options for travel. It identifies road construction and can even alert me if there are accidents and delays. Smart technology will allow me to know roughly how many miles I'll be traveling and how long it will take to get there. Options! Options! Options! My general tendency is to take the shortest fastest route. Get-R-done! In transit, the app will often blurt out an announcement, "You are on the fastest route." AWESOME! I tend to push the accelerator a bit more when I hear that announcement. :)

Choices. They are are a blessing and a curse. Take for instance the plethora of ways people pursue in order to get to heaven. Good works, church attendance, large financial donations, horoscopes, reading crystals, mediums, angel worship, and a host of other options swirl around us and we have to choose. Television shows and big screen movies are good at mixing many possibilities together to create a faith of confusion.

It comforts me to know that in the midst of all this confusion there is one way to get to heaven. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." LISTEN! Do you hear it? "You are on the quickest route!"

While there are hundreds of supposed ways humanity believes will lead them to God. God, through Jesus, says there is one way. Jesus spoke as one who always obeyed the will of His Father. His claim of connection with God reduces my stress. We can set aside all the competing claims to salvation and intently and contentedly follow the voice of Jesus our Savior. Go ahead, check your heart rate and see if it isn't already slowing down. If you are struggling today, stop and listen for the voice of Jesus saying, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30, NIV) (You will then be on the fastest route!)

Shalom,