This past year, I have been following several hikers as they hiked the Appalachian Trail. I have followed several people that I personally knew in the past, but this year I have followed some total strangers through their online journals as they have journeyed from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine (over 2,000 miles). This is a distance I cannot imagine walking myself, so I am quite content watching from my screen. This is not a flat path, it goes over and around mountains, boulders, creeks, and lakes. It goes through wilderness inhabited by bears, elk, mice, and all the rest of the creatures.
One happenstance that was surprising to me was how often hikers get off the trail by accident. One couple I was following did this several times. You can imagine the frustration of adding unnecessary miles to an already long journey. They, and many others, purchased a Guthook app for their phones that will show them their location in proximity to the Appalachian Trail. White blazes mark the trail on trees and rocks, but it is not a constant visual guide, so they can be missed, particularly when the weather is bad and so many hikers have to hike looking down so they don’t trip and fall on tree roots and other obstacles. Guthook is an interesting name. As many words do, it makes me think of a literal hook piercing into a person’s guts and pulling them in the right direction. Gory. I know.
There are references to walking a path in the Bible. It is a long journey through life and it can be true that even for those of us who meet and know Jesus from a young age, we can go off the path and waste miles. We can say we don’t need any blazes on the trees, map, or even an app. But life gets hard, downright frightening at times. When we get lost, we can look up and let God take control and put our guts and all the rest of us--soul, mind, and spirit, back on the right path. David wrote in Psalms: “You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (16:11).
Whether you know Jesus now or not, at any point you can call out to Him to save you and put you on the right path. He will do it.
If I was hiking, I would get the Guthooks before I started so I could stay on the path and not risk taking a single unnecessary step. No shame in submitting myself to that. It beats trying to see occasional blazes. I am not embarrassed to submit my life to God either. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believers, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
Good hike, everyone.
