A memorable hike.

Recently a very knowledgably hiker took our Sunday School class on a hike through a gully in the beautiful island of Barbados. At one point, one of the teenagers in the group drew the comparison between the path and Christianity. “Narrow is the way that leads to eternal life”. 

Our lives are like that walk.

Sometimes the way is narrow and treacherous. There are other parallels .While on the hike, we had to navigate carefully around prickly palms and razor grass. Similarly, the fiery darts of the enemy are always ready to bruise or wound our spirits.

We need to be sober and vigilant, lest we slip and fall. The moss that covered the rocks is like sin ... always ready to trip us up but we have the victory over sin through Christ. If we were not wearing the proper footwear it would have been even more difficult to stop ourselves from falling. Equally, our spiritual armor includes having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

As we walked through the gully, we were surrounded by the wonders of God's creation, yet for the most part, we were so preoccupied with the difficulties of the hike that we often failed to notice the majestic trees, the interesting rock formations or the wide range of vegetation. The same is true in our daily walk. We can become so preoccupied with the trials and testings that we fail to notice the 'flowers' along the way and give God the praise and thanks he rightfully deserves.

Finally we had a knowledgeable guide who had traveled that path many times. As we picked our way through the thick vegetation, he was not always visible but we knew that he was there ... somewhere.

At times he 'went before us'. He stopped at critical points with instructions and warnings. The Holy Spirit is always there.

We trusted our guide’s integrity and knowledge to take us in to a place that looked daunting and bring us back out safely. At one point he warned us in crossing over to a cave, if we stepped on the wrong branch, we would fall into a very deep hole. His constant warnings: “Keep left” “Keep right” “Prickly palms ahead” or “Slippery ahead”.

The warnings were many but we dutifully followed him. We trusted him with our lives and those of our class members. We can trust God in life's terrifying situations and we know that He will never fail to keep us from falling. Jude 24 & 25 comes to mind:

"Now to Him who is able to keep us from falling and present you before His glorious Presence with exceeding joy- the only wise God, our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages now and forevermore".