Crossroads

Growing up. I think it was my favorite song. It was the one song that you didn't just sing it. You could feel it in my grandfather's church. Just all wooden floor with wooden pews, and you're sitting by a couple of guys singing bass really well. You can just feel it in your chest that would vibrate and I like that a lot. The other thing was I thought I could sing bass, you know? But all these guys are sitting around me and Carrie are the whole thing.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry, I could not travel both and be one traveler long. I stood and looked down far as one look down one. As far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth then took the other as just as fair and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted where the last for the pressing, their had warned them really about the same. About that morning, equally lay in leaves. No step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day yet. Knowing how the way life way leads to the way I doubt. If I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a Sade somewhere, ages and ages. Hence, two roads diverged in a wood. And I, I took the One Less Traveled by and that has made all the difference. We come to Crossroads in our lives. And that's what Robert Frost is describing here and explain to us the reasons for the choices of the choice to be made at that particular point in time. I've been doing some so bright and go out the crossroad. The crossroads, Crossroads crossing a metaphor, and I just thought there were some things I'd like to share this morning that would be related to that. We have group of seniors who are graduating and I just got to thinking Look at all the critical Crossroad decisions that are coming up in their lives. Over the next seven to 10 years. Burst basically all the decisions about education. Most of decisions about career will be made the place where they're going to live. Amaze probably or maybe and could it be children? That's that would hardly be sensitive to navigate because a lot of important things pop up really quickly and you find yourself standing at a price of going. Well, do I go left or do I have to go? Right? What choices do I make and coming at you really fast and really quickly. That can be overwhelming, life is a series of Crossroads large and small. And the way we put those together and the choices that we make at each of those junctures has a lot to do with what I like, fully turned out to be in Jeremiah 6:16. this is what the Lord says stand at the crossroads and look, Ask for the ancient past. Ask with a good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls. And there's another sentence did that scripture that I'll share with you a little bit later on here. The rider is just saying, stop look and listen what we do when we drive to a Crossroads we drive up to the stop sign. It look to make sure there's no traffic coming before we go on through. And he's admonishing all of us as we come to the crossroads, the various Crossroads in life that we stop and take just a minute to see what's going on cuz sometimes we wind up going through them in a much more hurry style than what we would really like. And then he says, ask for some things. Ask for the ancient paths. And most young people don't want the ancient paths, new and modern, and that happens to all of us. The other day where there's people working in the

Yards of trying to think of it. Uncle wanted to give you a few minutes and I couldn't imagine what they were putting in and my neighbor has all wood spiral Optic internet. It started out with dial-up so it's nice to see that move and go in that direction. And we come to the place where we start to feel like things. The newer things are the better things. And the prophet here is saying, look at some Ancient the things that have been around awhile, the things that have stood, the test of time, the things that show us there is wisdom Behind these things are better there soon, like we're talking a few studies back about and I was telling him about how my dad used to burn the front. Lawn every year my mother hated it because there was the house for the next week. I imagine the neighbors were probably a little bit afraid when Dad got out there and torched, everything

That's just an old wives tale that burning the artist. Good for it. There's actually and the larger piece of ground. You have the more positive comes from doing stuff and a lot of farmers and Ranchers have known that for a very long time. We look up at they called, if it's bound to be good, if it's all, it's bound to be Obsolete and that isn't always the case. It isn't always the way. Years ago about 20 years ago, there was a airlines put together a group to develop a new material to make Airline seats out of a 12, something that you could wash easily. They wanted something that would do a number of different things, they wanted something that would not burn and create the kind of gases that would be so dangerous. And so this particular group that was investigating this actually had some money to create a new fabric, if that's what was up with.

That's the one that went up with when I did all the testing and all the examination. They came back to this. Ancient material, that works pretty well. Hey, Matthew 7:14 says, but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it. Ask for the ancient paths. And then it says ask where the good way is Get the info that get the input of other people. What shows are you making? What was it like in your life? When you came to this particular Crossroads, what factors did you considered? What church? Did you have what stresses were part of beer? And then how do you feel about your decision? Because, as young people move away from home and family the responsibility for making their own choices?

Becomes very, very strong as it should be.

The other night, we had some medicine delivered to our house. The guy that came up at 11:30 We got the door, he was very angry because he had taken the wrong road and he had gone down this song, Dirt Road, hit several Papa told me. He attract his brother or damaged his brothers car. I don't know what he wanted me to do, but he was still frustrated about that. And the reason that he had trouble It isn't the fact that there's not a good road to our house. There is there's a perfectly good but his GPS sent him the back way through the woods. And I guess it's probably just a little bit shorter to do that and it reminded me of the fact that we're all taking in information and we start to assume sometimes it, but this information is all valid. And yet, we have to be careful about the source of our information. Are we getting the right information? I'm not going the right way. If I'm not getting the right information, young people, there are lots of sources out there that are going to be providing you. Lots of information are things, they are going to want you to do, and it's very in, that you determine whether that's the voice of God voice of Satan. So that leaves two very positive things. And in the last thing says by simply walk in it when you figure out which way you're supposed to go, go ahead, go ahead and stay in that process earlier. I held back the last part of that verse Send us the crossroads and look ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walking it and you will find rest for your souls. That last sentence is but you said, we will not walk in it. Israel said, no. Israel said we're going to do it our way. Israel said this is this is something we can choose and I'm going to change the way we want to go. Jeremiah says, as you go off. Into captivity understand. This is a choice that you made.

Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 & 6, just trust in the Lord, with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Ecclesiastes 12:1. Remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come in the Years approach. When you will say, I find no pleasure in the a.m. probably if something could be most beneficial, this morning would be for the older people to sit with the younger people and share within the mistakes that they made. The choices that they wish they hadn't made the choices that they had opportunity to do it again, they would be differently and they would approach many of those Crossroads. In a very different fashion. Throughout the Bible, we see examples of Crossroads. Israel had to cross that Jordan River. Joseph multiple times in his life. He's brought to a Crossroads and he consistently chooses the right way and the right Road. And it leads to great satisfaction for him. One final verse. Deuteronomy 11 starting at verse 26. This is Moses talking to the Israelites warning. You about the future. See, I'm sitting before you today a blessing and a curse the blessing. If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, that I'm giving you the curse. If you disobey the commands of the Lord, your God and turn from that way, that I command you today. By following other gods, would you have not known? Moses says, It's a good choice, choice. And there are always consequences to choice. We are about to go on vacation when Tom and Jonathan said to me, what's your favorite part of the vacation? I said, when the plane lands, I mean it, why is that? I said because I have all my options in front of me all the time I can make

those of you who move from high school in 25, The doors are open for you, keep the doors, open to Camping options, open, make the choices that give you the opportunity to continue to make those strong strong choices as what God has for you. He wants to bless you and he'll help you. If you'll allow that Would you play with me? Dear God, we thank you for your love and your wisdom and your kindness. We thank you for your Willingness to allow your son to die so that our sins could be forgiven. God, we know that we need you in our lives and is David. We prayed that we would seek you at every turn to find out what what your will is for us in the next step in our lives. We ask for blessings and we ask father that was the day comes that we would look back to the crossroads and say I did make the right choices or I tried in my heart to make the very white ones are the blesses, forgive us and help us. We pray this to your precious son, Amy.