If You Don’t Come With Me I’m Not Going

Life is full of choices and all the decisions we have to make. Which way, when do I go, how do I get there? But there’s one overriding question we need to bear in mind: Do I go by myself or with God? Jesus said to the disciples, ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20). He’s in every move we make, and He sent a spiritual guide to help us make the right decisions. ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth’ (John 16:13). We can either listen to Him or ignore Him.

We have a guide who wants to lead us, but we can go it alone if we want to. Moses said he wouldn’t go into the promised land without God. What would be the point? The task ahead of him was daunting enough. But God assured him, “My presence will go with you” (Exodus 33:14).

Do we wonder why things don’t always turn out the way we had hoped? If we choose to go down the wrong road, whom do we have to blame if it leads to a dead end, or takes us the wrong way? We have the choice.

The Bible talks about the principle of sowing and reaping. ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows’ (Galatians 6:7). All our actions have consequences; some good and some bad. We must therefore keep our spiritual eyes open and be careful to go only where God directs.

Moses said He wasn’t prepared to go without God. We need to take a similar stance. But we have a helper. By the Holy Spirit within us we are aware of what’s right and what’s wrong. We have a sense of God’s direction. The trouble is we so often ignore it and go our own way, the way that would seem to right to us, and give us satisfaction. But is it the right way?

Greed, worldly pleasures, envy and pride are all fuel for the selfish soul. Short term pleasures outside of God’s will often lead to disaster. Taking a route that’s based only on our feelings may well be stepping into enemy territory. There’s a tempter out there, who would seek to draw us away from godly ways. Adam and Eve discovered this in the Garden, and humanity is still reaping the consequences.

In the midst of all the confusion and uncertainties of life, God wants us to walk with Him as He walks with us. He’s not sending us into the world alone, unprepared or unequipped. He is with us all the way to the promised land. Jesus himself said, “I am the way.”

On the road to Emmaus the disciples experienced an overwhelming sense of joy when they realised that Jesus had been walking with them (Luke 24:32). We too can know the same.

Prayer: I thank You, Lord, there is only one way, and that’s Your way. Please help me keep my feet firmly on Your path, for the way is narrow. I pray for protection against all who would try to make me stumble and hold firmly on to You as my protector and guide. In Jesus’ name. Amen.