[ Taste And See ]
Smiles & Victory at Every Turn!Treading The Death Track
2007-05-19
It was told that years ago, when the upper peninsula of Michigan was an almost unbroken wilderness, two men set out to reach a new mining camp. From the straits of Mackinaw they hastened on in a westward direction, hoping to reach their destination before the heavy snow of winter set in. One bright November morning they started on what they hoped was the last stage of their journey. A flurry of snow during the preceding night has almost obliterated the faint track made by former travelers, but they confidently went forward believing themselves quite capable of keeping the right direction. As the day wore on, the woods through which they journeyed grew more dense until they could not see the sun which hitherto had been their guide. Still they pressed on in what they believed to be a westward course, choosing the places where the underbrush was crushed as evidence that others had passed that way before.
What was their astonishment later on to find that they were apparently not alone on their journey, for there were before them fresh tracks in the snow of at least two other travelers. Reassured by this, they hurried on, hoping to overtake them and were amazed, still later, to find others had joined the travelers. This they looked upon as a sure token that they were on the right way, and that the camp was near. But when they were about to start again, they were surprised by the appearance of an Indian who proved to be the mail carrier of the district, standing by the side of a huge tree only a few feet away from them. Involuntarily their hands went to their fire-arms, but without moving from his position, the Indian grunted out in broken English: “WHITE MAN LOST!” This they were ready to indignantly deny, but the Indian, pointing to the tracks replied: “White man lost; he go ‘round and ‘round.” They were treading what has been termed “the death track,” and that explained the added footprints – they were their own, for they had been walking in a circle!
It is not difficult to perceive the danger these men were in—an unknown country, a trackless wild, without a guide, and treading the hopeless round of the “death track.” But how many are like them! Being desirous of going to Heaven, but not taking their directions from the one infallible guide-book, the Bible, they are also going, each one, their own way. But what saith the Scriptures? “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25). They are treading, alas, the death track! Unsaved one, plodding away in a round of religious duty or carnal thinking, as the Indian told the travelers: “You are lost; you are going ‘round and ‘round!” To go on as you are is to perish. No amount of zeal will alter the solemn condition; you are helplessly lost! But there is One who stands ready not only to save, but to guide the lost wanderer safely home. None perish that trust in Him. To save you He had to die; but He is now risen, and thus, as a living Saviour for dead sinners, He proclaims to you, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father but by ME.” (John 14:6). Will you take Him Who is the WAY and be saved from following the death track?
Created with ShoutPost
