I had two maps to a friend’s house. The first was roughly drawn in pencil, while the second was neatly printed out on a computer.
The crude map was hand-drawn by my friend, Jon, who knew the best and only correct route. This is like the Lord Jesus who made us by His hand, who lived here in this world and who knew the path we should take to get saved. We can have perfect confidence in Him to guide us aright.
My friend who lived there had drawn an accurate way to his house. But the route on the map made by the computer looked shorter and more inviting. Such maps can deceive us, as in my case. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man” (Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)). In Corning, California, McLane Street does not go through. I had never been to Jon’s house before. It was dark, I got lost, and I didn’t know where to turn for help. When we get right with the Lord, He can quickly reveal how His way is best. When we find we have missed God’s way, the best thing we can do is to call for help. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:66Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)).
All I could do was to phone my friend, who told me to just stay where I was. Then he would send his son Joe for me, who would lead me to the house! Even so, the Lord was sent right where we are in all our distance from God. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). We little realize how we have offended God by becoming sinners and needing to be saved. Now all I had to do was wait until Joe came. I followed Joe’s taillights, even as the Lord Jesus is the light of the world. A warm welcome awaited me.
The map made by a computer is a picture of the world as a big mechanical structure with all kinds of input from men’s minds. It includes all kinds of interesting places to go, including restaurants and lodging. But it failed to show me the best way to my friend’s house.
Also regarding maps, a map is not of much value until we find just where we are on the map. Then we can use it to show us the best route to our destination. The Lord’s map, the Word of God, shows us just where we are — lost in our sins (Romans 6:1313Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:13)). And then it shows us the way to be saved through faith in Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (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)).