The Old Road

Bill Shumaker

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls . . ." (NIV Jer 6:16)

One thing I remember about my grandfather was a saying he had about a person who would argue with a road sign. Which is what I thought of when I realized that there thousands of road signs that say "Old_________ Road".

Yes, right off you understand this is the old path.

Praise the Lord, I have found it!

Well, much to my surprise, the old road doesn't go there any more.

That is the saddest statement I have ever heard.

"The Old Road doesn't go there any more."

There many reasons for this. Some are:

"It" isn't there. Old Ferry Road can't go there because the ferry isn't there now. Old Ferry Road does not even go to the new bridge!

Some roads start out with an "old" name that is bound to be useless. Old Burnt Mill Road is a good example.

Many old roads don't go there because "there" is now on the other side of the Interstate Highway, and there is no new road to it.

Some old roads are just ruts in the earth with no purpose and only good to entrap a traveler.

Should we really be asking where the old roads are? I noticed that the question that really matters is, "Where is the good road?"

Jesus said:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Now there is a road sign that we should not argue with, nor do we need to go any farther back to find an older path.

Yes, Jesus is the "new cut road".

Photo Credit: Anthony Wolff, copyrighted in Reader's Digest Scenic Wonders of America - An Illustrated Guide to Our Natural Splendors, by Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1973. (By permission.)