WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?
I staggered up
the hill and sank to my knees at a door in the face of the rock. With all the strength left in me I knocked. The door opened, and before me stood a
luminous being that could only be described as an angel.
“What took you
so long?” said the angel as he lifted me from my knees and helped me stagger
down a long passage into a dazzling dining hall.
Gathered around
an immense table piled high with food, a joyful crowd was
eating and chatting with great delight.
The angel led me to a chair with my name engraved on a gold plate.
The woman
sitting next to me said, “Well, you finally got here. What took you so long?”
Looking back
over my sad life, I ask myself the same question. What took me so long? I feel like the Prodigal Son who finally
found his way home after wasting years of his life.
The
I will never
forget the day the words CONTROL BOULEVARD flashed through
the fog in bright blue letters above a broad avenue divided by well-kept shrubs. CONTROL BOULEVARD! This was the road I was looking for! All my life I had
been dominated by other people. Everybody had control but me! So I started walking down this boulevard with fresh
determination.
“Hey!” cried a
voice behind me. “Come back here and
clean up this garbage.”
“Clean it up
yourself,” I shouted and kept right on walking.
I was learning
how to take charge---how to make things go my way, for a change!
“Who gave you
permission to walk on this boulevard?” said a man leaning on a shovel.
“Who gave you
permission to lean on that shovel?” I replied and kept walking.
It’s a great
feeling to be in control of your own destiny.
To say “Yes” when it suits, and to say “No” when it doesn’t.
But as I kept
walking, I noticed that
Off to my right
was the
“Thanks
anyway,” I said, and took off through the tangled woods until I came upon a beautiful
sign which read
As I kept
strutting down
But wouldn’t
you know? The messenger from the
I gave him a
little shove and took off toward that beautiful pink sign. After all, happiness is what we’re all trying
to find.
Life,
I sat down at
an outdoor café and ordered a rack of ribs.
It was the most beautiful platter of ribs I’d ever seen. But when I went to pick them up, they melted
away between my fingers. I picked up my
coffee cup, and the coffee turned to warm water in my
mouth.
And that was
just the beginning. HAPPINES LANE turned out to be a bitter disappointment. They can talk all they like about “the
pursuit of happiness.” Happiness is just
another butterfly that always gets away when you chase it.
I was trying to
figure out how to escape this road of disappointments
when a gigantic sign loomed up before my eyes.
$ECURITY $UPERHIGHWAY, read the sign. I noticed that the “S’s”
in the sign were dollar signs. This is
the road I’ve really been looking for, the road to financial security! But to travel this superhighway I needed a car. So I set off in
search of a BMW dealership. Might as
well go for the best.
Before entering
the dealership I pulled out my bankbook, and my heart
sank. I didn’t even have enough in the
bank for the down payment on a BMW. Now what do I do?
Just then a
stranger addressed me by name. How did
he know my name? He not only knew my
name, he understood my need.
“You’re looking for a way to make money,”
said the stranger, “and I’m looking for someone to help me with a little
fundraiser. Come with me. We’re gong to make ourselves a nice pile of
cash.”
In no time I was back at BMW with all the cash I needed. Half an hour later I was cruising down $ECURITY $UPERHIGHWAY, happy as a clam.
It’s amazing
what you can do when you have a few bucks!
A beautiful
plaza loomed up on the right so I pulled up, parked my
BMW, and went in and had me some lunch. When
I came out to get in my car it was gone!
My BMW was gone! Stolen! I
reached in my wallet to find a phone number, and my
money was gone! All of it. I pulled out my bankbook. Nothing left in the account! What’s going on?
And they call
this $cecurity $uperhighway? Security rip-off! No security here! Now what do I do?
“This is the
last time I’m going to make the offer,” said the man who drew me aside and
pointed once again to the
There was no
sign above this road. No flower beds, no
bands playing. At the entrance was a
narrow gate. And the road itself was narrower
than any of the roads I had traveled.
But a strange light seemed to shine upon this road.
“Okay, I’ve
tried everything else, and ended up with nothing. What can I lose?” So I passed through
the narrow gate and started my journey on the
“On this road
you will never be alone,” said my guide, “I will be with you all the way to the
end. There will be mountains to climb
and valleys to pass through.
You will often
come upon signs offering short-cuts to glory. Don’t
get side-tracked; stay focused. I will
give you all the help you need.”
So off we
went. It was a journey like no other. There were joys and disappointments,
suffering and comfort. My guide never
left me until at last I staggered to that door in the face of the rock and met
the angel who said, “What took you so long?”
In the early
days, they didn’t call it Christianity, they called it The Way. They understood that it’s more than a set of
beliefs we cling to; it’s a road we walk.
It begins by
leaving all other roads behind, and passing through a
narrow gate. That’s what baptism
means. Baptism is the narrow gate where
I die to all those phony roads and rise to walk on the road that God opens up for me.
Maybe I didn’t know what was going on when I was baptized. But now I make it real. “Here I am Lord, I’m coming through the
narrow gate. I’m dead to all those other
roads, alive only to you.”
Now I begin to
walk on the narrow road, the only road that leads to life. On this road I’m no
longer busy trying to take control. I’m
learning that God is in control. And
every time I try to control things, I have to repent
and give it over to God, and just trust him.
On this road I
no longer waste time trying to vindicate myself, trying to prove I’m
right. I turn over all my stupidity and
all my sins to the Lord who washed them away at his cross. I can’t vindicate myself; only God can vindicate
me---when he’s ready. “And
will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you he
will vindicate them speedily.” (Luke 18)
On this road I
no longer wear myself out pursuing happiness.
On this road, for all its bumps, I have something better. I have the joy of heaven. Inner joy, straight from God, that burns like
a flame in my soul day and night.
And best of
all, on this road I’m no longer a slave to Mammon---always worrying about
money. At last
I’m learning to trust the heavenly Father to provide, as the Master keeps
reminding me, “Seek first the
On this road,
I’m breathing the air of heaven. The
Spirit of the Lord is right here, sustaining me, showing me the way.
This road, of
course, is Jesus himself. And here’s a
fact that is rarely taught in our churches.
So pay attention. Everybody
who has ever lived on this planet gets a chance to walk this road. Everybody.
No exceptions.
“And
I, when I am lifted up from the earth (on the cross) will draw all people to
myself.”
John 12
All
people. He died for all. He opens the way for all. Not just for Christians. For Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, anarchists.
Sooner or later
everybody gets the chance to walk the
“I
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No
one comes to the Father but by me.”
John 14
Once you hear
those words---really hear them, you have to decide
whether they are the words of a madman or the words of the Incarnate God.
“I
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No
one comes to the Father but by me.”
If those words
sound to you like the words of a madman, ignore them and choose whatever road
appeals to you. But if those words sound
to you like the words of the Incarnate God, what are you waiting for?
Listen to
Jesus’ final conversation with Peter in the gospel of John. It’s after the resurrection. Jesus has just finished serving breakfast to
a few of his disciples on the
He points to a
pile of fish they’ve just caught and says to Peter.
Simon,
son of John, do you love me more than these?
Lord,
you know that I love you.
Feed
my sheep.
Three times
Jesus says in effect to Peter, “If you love me, forget about the fish, and
start feeding my sheep.” And then Jesus
tells Peter how he’s going to die.
Peter says,
“What about John? What’s going to happen to him”
Jesus says,
"If
it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"
John 21
“Listen Peter, don’t worry about what’s going to happen to
John or anyone else. You just follow
me. Focus on walking in my footsteps. Stick with
me on the
“Follow me!”
“Follow
me.”
I’m not
following Martin Luther. I’m not
following John Calvin or Billy Graham or Franklin Graham or Moses of
Elijah. I’m following Jesus---only Jesus.
Every morning I pass through that narrow gate afresh and present
my body as a living sacrifice to the Master. “Here I am, Lord, I’m here to
follow you through this day. I’m turning
my mind away from all those other roads to walk in the light of your Spirit.”
It’s a daily
walk in the light of God on the only road that leads to life.
Perhaps some of
us right now are walking along
But off to the
right, the Narrow Gate is wide open. And
the Lord of the
And if we stay
with him on this road, one day soon we’ll find ourselves at the Banquet of God,
sitting on a chair with our name engraved on a gold plate. And the lady sitting
next to us will say,
“Well,
you finally got here. What took you so
long?”