Careful lest you drift off course

12:07 AM, Sep. 14, 2013  |  Comments
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I saw Phil off to work and walked back inside, trying to decide if I should go kayaking. There was no real reason not to resume my morning rides. The sinus infection that had sidelined me was mostly vanquished and little more than a week had passed since I'd been on the water, but surprisingly, that seemed just long enough for my desire to wane.

And yet, because memories of how much I had been enjoying it kept tugging at me, I walked resolutely through the back porch and down to the dock on auto-pilot, telling myself that once I was on the water I'd be glad I made the effort. I was right.

That morning on the water was particularly peaceful. As I pulled my paddle through the water, and eased into praise, the sun began peeking over the line of cypress trees on the lake's edge, casting a glorious band of gold across the surface like it was marking out a path. I began to sense that still small voice I love so much. It felt like divine timing.

The day before I'd been writing about a scripture from Proverbs 4:18, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day."

Impulsively, I lined the nose of my kayak towards the light and pulled out my phone to capture the shot. I was headed towards the Son, S-O-N. And that's when the lesson began.

By the time I got the camera app ready, the nose of my kayak was no longer lined up with the light. I tried again, pointing my canoe towards the light before opening my iphone to set up the picture. I drifted again. I paddled back in line and repeated the process, again and again. I finally got the shot I was after, or rather something pretty close to it, but by then the lesson had fully registered.

The only sure way to stay on the golden path is to live in forward motion with our eyes trained on Jesus. It's when we stop to record our progress that we risk drifting off course!


His going forth is as certain as the dawn;

And He will come to us like the rain,

Like the spring rain watering the earth." Hosea 6:3

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