Proverbs 14:12

At The Cross-Roads

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12.

Two gentlemen were once cycling in Normandy, the home, you will remember, of William the Conqueror. They came to a notice-board which said in French, “Road closed,” and the arrow pointed down a side lane. Thinking that the notice referred to the lane, they went straight ahead. It was a hot summer afternoon, and they had had a great deal of hill-climbing. After passing the notice-board the road fell sharply, and for about half a mile they had a glorious free-wheel run down into the valley. But when they reached the bottom of the hill, they were horrified to see before them a great breach in the river-bank. There had been a flood a few days before which had carried away both the bank and the bridge. They had made the mistake of thinking that the notice referred to the lane. It was a weary climb back up the hill; but if they were slow of foot, let us hope they were at least a little bit wiser.

You have often heard your life compared to a journey a journey in which boyhood and girlhood is a very happy time. But when you grow older, you come to a point where it is no longer a matter of going straight ahead and enjoying yourselves; the road branches off in several directions, and you have to make a choice between the different paths. You look first at one road, then at another. Your father may have been helping you to decide about the roads already, and possibly he has pointed to one on which you know there will be a great deal of climbing, and he has said, “That is the path for you; don't be afraid of it.”

Never listen to the voice that says, “Take the easy road on which there are so many young people, and all of them having a regular good time.” You have seen them. They go on taking all the pleasure they can get, spinning along free-wheeling, as it were never pausing to think where the road will lead them to in the end. But the Wise Man knew what he was saying when he uttered the words, “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man.” There was a great poet who chose this road of pleasure. But he had not been very long upon it when, in words one could never forget, he cried, “I'm an old, old man, and I am miserable.” Listen to his own words

My days are in the yellow leaf;

The flowers and fruit of love are gone;

The worm, the canker, and the grief

Are mine alone!

Don't you feel sorry for him? And he was only thirty-six, remember!

Then, there is a much frequented road on which people strut along, each one thinking that there is no one on earth to equal himself. The great Napoleon Bonaparte took it. He imagined that he was above all the laws by which ordinary mortals are governed, and that he had a right to commit any crimes that, would advance his own interests. In truth, he did commit so many that I could not tell you of them all. He defied not only the laws of men, but the laws of God, and you all know that the end of it was that the whole world turned against him.

A good many of you are within sight of the branching roads, and you feel puzzled. Once a Sunday school teacher, in putting a question, used the word “perplexed.” A boy quickly said, “Please, ma'am, I don't know the meaning of that word.” She then drew a straight line with three or four other lines branching off from the end of it. “This straight line,” she said, “is a road. Let us imagine you, George, are sent on an errand which takes you along it. You come to the parting of the ways; no one has given you any idea which one to take; you get worried over the matter, you are perfectly ‘ perplexed.'” “But, ma'am,” spoke up another little chap, “at a place like that there would be a sign-post.” He was right. And Jesus has set up a sign-post for you. Your father and mother can only guide you along the straight road. At the branching roads you must choose for yourself. But why hesitate when there is on one sign-post “Follow Me.”

The paths seem very near to each other at first, but, boys and girls, the distance between the right and the wrong one becomes greater as you go on, till at last it is all but impossible to go from the one to the other. If the right road is rough and tiring at times, set jour hearts to it and keep asking God to help you on. Later you will feel that you are becoming strong through the daily effort, and you will grow up to be men and women who will be a blessing to your country. Best of all, you will be on the road not to death but to life.