The hot Florida sun beat down on the expressway, and the hitchhiker trudging along with his backpack looked hopefully at each car that passed. Turning to face the oncoming car, he would hold up a hand-lettered destination sign: "PENSACOLA."
No one stopped. As each car whizzed past him he would give his pack a hitch and start on down the road, a hot and weary man.
Why did no passing motorist take pity on him and stop to give him a ride? He was certainly hoping to reach Pensacola—all his efforts were directed to getting to Pensacola—but he was going the wrong way. Pensacola lay 450 miles to the north, and he was walking down the southbound lane. Every step he took, the longer he traveled, the more energy he put into his efforts to reach Pensacola, the farther he was from getting there.
No doubt he thought he was going the right way, but we can only think of the verse in Proverbs: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12). Travelers journeying on through life as we all are must make sure that theirs is not just "the way that seemeth right." When we ask, "How can we know the way?" the Lord Jesus Himself answers: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6).
That is the way. We come to God by believing on His Son. The promise is absolutely sure: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans' 10:9, 10. Could the way be plainer than that?