Asphalt. Gravel. Concrete. Yes, I have been thinking about paving material a lot lately. For very different reasons.
I will offer two today, and I could go on much longer. But that's another story. First, there is our garage; or rather, our lack of one.
When we bought our house, the garage was starting to go. It faced east/west and the south roofside had begun to bow quite significantly. Turns out it was worse than that. The concrete pad was shot. The north wall was rotten; not the least of which being it was built with 1x4 lumber. And the apron outside had cracked concrete as well. Hidden gifts awaited for us. There was not one pad, there were two. Both concrete, the larger one poured directly on the smaller, older one. There were not one but two sidewalks. Both concrete and again, one poured on top of the other. Best of all was the soil underneath the apron which was soaked with used motor oil. Much more would be discovered, but this had taken us down a road we had not foreseen in any way.
And then there is the gospel lesson from Luke. Luke 24:13-35 details the ongoing road work of faith and witnessing for evangelism. You never know whom you will meet. John 21:1-14 gives us a different perspective on this. Both passages illustrate how faith has been and always will be a road job. Isaiah 40 and the whole book of Exodus are about faith that is on the road. This notion works both ways for Jesus. Mark 3 shows people coming to him. Mark 7 shows him venturing very far north, completely out of Jewish territory. And here, in what is now the country of Lebanon and on the Mediterranean coast, Jesus is at work witnessing to people what the kingdom of God is about.
Matthew 28 is what the disciples were to be about. It is what we are to be about also. We are to witness about our faith in Jesus wherever, whenever, however we need to. An example happened this way. A family pulls into a gas station to fill up before heading home. Dad sees two young men in a terrible looking car trying to figure out how to pay for the gas with almost no money. He walks over and asks if he can help. They say yes and he takes them into the store. He pays for enough gas to get them halfway to their destination and then throws in the surprise he and his wife have discussed. He gets them to collect sandwiches, drinks and munchies and pays for all of that. They ask how they can repay him. He says, "Do it for someone else when you get the chance." And the kingdom of God has just touched their lives. Now, what road, expected or unexpected, will God and Jesus lead you down today? Pr. Scott
