The girl that I had been talking with on the road to the furnace pulled me onto a rocky road that ran somewhat parallel to the main road. I could see all the people that I had been walking with all my life. I could also see all the people that I thought had disappeared. We started to walk in the same direction, yet this terrain was much more difficult. I didn’t quite know what to say. It puzzled me that I had been walking all this way without knowing His plan. I looked again at the people and waved. No one looked my way. “That’s odd.”

“What?”

“Well, I waved, but no one saw me.”

“You are changed, and they don’t understand.”

“But I see them fine.” We continued to walk as I puzzled over this. “Ouch!”

“What happened?”

“I tripped over a root.”

“This path is not easy.” She stated. I looked ahead, for as we walked I could see things in the distance more clearly.

“How are we ever going to walk this path?!”

“Following His way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the ground.” I looked. “What do you see?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“The path, though dim, is marked out for us. If we follow His way then we will be all right. Once we depart from His way, our progress toward our goal will be slowed.”

“But it looks as though this way is hard. I mean, there are roots, rocks, and all sorts of stuff. Wouldn’t it just be easier to walk on that road that I was walking on, but know where to get off when we get closer?”

“For now the roads seem parallel, but the more you follow His way, the more you realize how different they actually are. Our own way seems easy and offers easy walking. It looks like we have everything all planned out, but it this that leads us to destruction. See…” The girl said pointing. I looked to people in pain for following their own way. They were thirsty, lonely, and miserable.

“I see what you mean.” I stated, as we walked on the path. “There’s just one question I have.”

“You mean one more question you have.”

“Okay, one more question. How did I see you?”

“You were seeking the answer. He has chosen many to come out from their way and to pursue Him. When you decided to find out what was going on and what your destiny was, I could be seen. That’s part of our job. Not to give up trying to reach those people in their own way, and be there when He is at work in their lives.”

“Wow. This is getting to be quite a heavy task to bear.”

“He paid the price of His own life to get us on a way that is pleasing and acceptable to Him. We owe our whole life to Him.”

“But you’d think that the way would be easier. I mean, we are doing that which is right, aren’t we.”

“Yes, be we, ourselves, are not wholly right, and in order to teach us to be more like Him there are pitfalls and perils, like this
one here…” She stopped the sentence as we neared the edge of a pit. I looked down. Picking up a rock, I tossed it down to see how deep it was.

“Must we go down there? I mean, wouldn’t it just be easier to go on that road over there for just this once?”

“Do you want His way or your way?” I looked at her, the easy way, and then back at her. She started to lower herself into the pit, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I walked out of the bushes, but as I put my foot on my own way, people started to laugh, and my feet felt hot. My conscience bothered me, for I knew that I was going the wrong way. I looked back at His way, and returned to it. I started to lower myself into the pit, asking for forgiveness for my stupidity.

God’s way is not our way. Neither are His thoughts our thoughts. As growing Christians we must strive to follow Him with all of our heart. Wherever He leads, that’s where we should follow. Wherever He goes, that’s where we should go. If He stays, that’s where we should stay. He asked us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Is that too much of a price to pay for the one who paid the price for our sins with His own life?

Finding that I could no longer stare as many around me seemed to disappear, I decided that it was finally time to see where these people were all going. I mean, it didn’t make sense that someone standing right next to me seemed to disappear right before my eyes without a trace. I had been walking this way for a long time, for as long as I can remember. No, I’m not quite sure where it leads, but I think that it’s about time I find out.

“Excuse me?” I turned to the guy on my left. “Just where does this path go?”

“I don’t know, I’ve been going this way for a long time! I hope to find out where it leads soon.” The man answered.

“I’ve just been wondering where all these people have been disappearing to. I mean, just yesterday there was this girl to my right. She looked healthy and all–”

“Sorry, don’t have a clue. Perhaps you could try that guy over there.” The man pointed across the way to another man. I thanked him, and decided to go over to the man.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Yes, lad?”

“Do you know where we are headed?”

“Well, some say that it’s a great party that we’re going to. Others say that it’s really hot. Still others don’t think that we ever quite get there.”

“Really?! What about all these people that keep disappearing? I mean, there was this girl on my right–”

“No one really likes to talk about the disappearances. Some think that they are taken back to the beginning of the road. Some think that they get taken to the party, or whatever is at the end. Some just think that they vanish from existence.”

“Oh. Is that why no one talks about it?”

“No one knows, son.”

“Certainly someone must know, for I was shown this road by my parents, and theirs before them. In fact, if you look closely you can see them way up ahead of us.” I said, pointing.

“Don’t know what to tell you, son. I can only tell you what I’ve heard, which is only bits and pieces from here and there.” The man shrugged his shoulders. “I guess we could walk a little faster and see what’s up ahead.”

“No thanks. I think that I’ll just stay at this pace.” I replied. The man started to walk faster and I noticed someone poking her head through the leaves. It was that girl that was walking to my right. “There you are! I thought that you had disappeared. Where did you go?”

“Some one snuck out of these woods and asked me a few questions.” She replied.

“Like what?”

“Whether I knew what was at the end of the road.”

“Did you?”

“No, not then.”

“You mean that you do now?”

“Well, yes! It was all explained to me.”

“Tell me, what is at the end of the road.”

“The end of the road is the end of your life as you know it.”

“Really? Is that the party?”

“Not with the direction that you are walking!”

“Why, where does this go?”

“That way leads to the big furnace.”

“If that’s so, why doesn’t everyone leave this road?”

“Well, some don’t know it’s there, others don’t think it’s real, still others are more concerned about not falling and scraping their knee, or how tired they are to think about what is at the end.”

“How do I get off this road?”

“Well, there is a high price to pay for getting off.”

“Really, what’s that?”

“Your life.”

“Whoa.”

“Fortunately, One paid the price in your place. You must believe on Him, and give your life to Him.”

“Can I do it right now?”

“Now’s the best time.” I couldn’t believe it. I was headed on a road to destruction, yet there was one way of escape. I turned to look for people around me. Some were saying that the girl was crazy. Others were just blocking her out. I looked again to where she was standing. “If you will come, He says, follow me. It is His will that all should follow Him.”

“Will that mean that I must surrender my will?”

“Trust and follow Him. It’s the only way.” She looked into my eyes, and it almost looked as if she would cry. I decided that I would follow this one that she told me about, for if she were right I would die in a furnace, though one had already paid the price for choosing my own will.

Christian, are you leading others to follow His will? Are you showing a Christ-like example of self-denial. Are you sharing the Good News that Christ has made it so that we don’t have to bear the punishment of our sins? There are people out there that do not know about Him, and need Him so desperately. There are also those out there that need to hear it again. Follow His will in all that you do, so that His face may come shining through!

Walking upstairs, the two walked to the spot in the hall where the ladder to the attic came down. Using the pole that he had discovered the morning before, Joey was able to catch the little handle and pull down the panel. “It’s open,” stated Joey, looking back at his sister.

A big smiled came over her face as she watched her brother pull down the ladder. “Be careful, Joey!” Joey turned his head and gave his sister a look of disbelief. Turning back to his work, he pulled the ladder down and started his climb into the attic, his sister still standing below.

“Well?” Joey called down. “What are you waiting for?!”

“It looks so dark up there!”

“There has to be a light switch somewhere,” Joey stated, as he disappeared from the doorway. He stumbled around in the dark for a bit. Jill heard a crash, and called for her brother. He replied that he was all right. Jill looked around the hallway, and flicked a switch nearby. Joey appeared back at the doorway. “Found it!”

“Yep, I did. Right here.” Joey looked embarrassed, and Jill started to climb the ladder up into the attic. Once there, she looked around at all the dust covered objects. She saw a mildly organized attic with a lot of covered things.

“I wonder what’s in those trunks,” Joey wondered aloud as he pointed to some trunks in the corner. He headed over to them and started playing with the lock on one of them.

Meanwhile, Jill wandered toward some plastic covered dresses in another corner. Lifting up some plastic, she imagined wearing the fancy dresses.

As Joey finally opened the lock on the trunk, Jill found an old hat box. She lifted the cover and— “BANG!” She turned to see Joey wearing a cowboy hat and holding an old cap gun in his right hand. “I shot you!”

“So,” she replied. “A real gentleman wouldn’t shoot a lady.” She batted her eyes.

“Yuk.” He placed the that and gun back into the trunk and started to look for something else to play with. As he continued to do this, Jill wandered over to what she thought was a window. Looking at the large thing in front of her, she figured out that it was not a window, but a mirror. She could see her own silhouette in the dusty mirror, but as she moved her head around to try to get a better view she couldn’t seem to make out anything but her silhouette. She could tell that she was still wearing the hat, but that was about it.

She looked around her and found a rag on shelf next to the mirror. She picked up the rag and rubbed it once over the mirror. She looked into where she had wiped. She really couldn’t see too clearly. The dust had to have been there for a long time. She could now see a little of her face, but the size of the spot that she wiped and the amount of dust that was still on it caused her vision to be impaired. She started cleaning random spots, but everywhere she cleaned yielded the same result.

“What are you doing?” Joey asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Jill replied, placing the rag behind her. She meandered over to look at something else until Joey moved to another trunk. As soon as he was out of sight, she went back to the mirror. Finally, she started to rub increasingly harder on one spot. The more she cleaned, the more she saw, to the point that she finally saw just a bit, enough to see her eyes.

“Hmm. What’s this?” Joey asked. He picked up a black leather-bound book from the trunk. A thick layer of dust covered it, and as he blew the dust off and coughed a couple of
times, he tried to make out its title. He couldn’t quite make out all the letters, so he turned it on its side to open it. As he leafed through it, he saw that many pages were as if they’d never been read, while very few actually looked read. He then flipped to the front page and realized that this was a Bible.

Like a mirror, the Bible reflects the true image of the viewer. By looking deeply into it you see how holy He is and how you really appear to Him. The only catch is that you must take the time to look deep inside it to see yourself. A casual listening to it may show you a silhouette, and a casual glance at it might show you a better outline, but only digging deep will reveal the person that God sees in you.