Where Do I Want My Life to Go?

He has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Hebrews 1:2-3

I’ve done a lot of driving over the last week, probably a couple thousand miles in all. I don’t mind road trips, but I do get distracted easily. Driving requires attention and constant course correction because my car doesn’t just naturally go where I want it to go. I can’t simply set the cruise, sit back, and watch the scenery. Rather, I must constantly keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel, continually making corrections to keep myself headed towards my goal.

This sums up my life pretty well. To get where I need to go, I must continually correct my course. Once, I simply surrendered to following my nature, going wherever my stomach took me. This led to the disaster of my drug addiction. In recovery now, I’ve had to realize that simply letting go of the wheel doesn’t get me where I want to go. To experience the life I truly desire, I must daily make a genuine effort to abandon my way for God’s. This isn’t something I simply do only once and then let go. To continue going where I want to go, I must continually correct my course so that my life is pointed in the right direction.

Today’s passage is one of those course correction reminders. In it, the unknown writer of Hebrews opens his letter by explaining that God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ, through whom he created the world and who continually maintains the universe through his power. God made the world through Christ and it is he who holds it all together. He created us and saved us from ourselves for a relationship with him. It is he, not us, whom we should daily be striving to follow. Knowing God is our goal. Following Christ is the road that gets us there.

I just don’t naturally stay on the road though. If I don’t purposefully choose otherwise, I continually drift off course, following me. So, daily, I must get up early and make some effort to point my life at God. If I miss one day, I won’t relapse. But, if missing one day turns into missing 30 days, I’m going to gradually turn back to a life of my way. That was a miserable existence though, so today – and every day – I’m going to take time to point my life at my true goal.