Which Trail Are You On?

When it all boils down, this is what you’ve really got.

ß You can live a wasted life, or,

ß You can live a wise life.

It all comes down to the path or the trail you choose to walk on.

Throughout history there have been many famous trails.

ß The Appalachian Trail

ß The Oregon Trail

ß The Natchez Trail

ß The Chisholm Trail

Are just a few of the renowned trails of early America. They were the country’s first highway system.

But no matter which of these trails you might be talking about today, history clearly shows us again and again that it is wise to stay on the trail. If you were headed to Oregon it was wise to stay on the Oregon Trail instead of trying to blaze a trail of your own. It doesn’t take a lot of brains to figure out why. It took countless heartbreaking trips down dead-end trails before the right one was established in the first place. But those who had gone on before had finally found a trail that had all the essentials that would be needed for the journey. And you could count on the fact that those trailblazing pioneers had marked the trail for those of us who would follow after them.

The trail then was a path of wisdom. If you stuck to the trail you would be sure to find water to graze your animals, shelter and resting places along the way. Those who had gone on before you knew what they were doing and the marks on the trail were the collective wisdom of years.

Let me pause here to say that we too must be careful to stay on the original trails and the proven trails that have been marked so carefully for us.

We must stay on the trail of:

ß The mighty God in Christ Jesus.

ß Here Oh Israel the Lord our God is one Lord.

ß Oneness of the Godhead

ß Repentance of your sins

ß Water Baptism in Jesus Name

ß Infilling of the Holy Ghost

But that’s just the beginning of the trail. We must continue on down the trail of:

ß Living a sanctified and holy life, blameless, spotless and without blemish from the world

ß The Bible being the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God

ß Divine healing

ß Prayer and fasting and Bible reading

ß Evangelism of the lost

These are trails that have been blazed by the Pentecostal pioneers that have gotten us to where we are today and we must not leave them now. I’m glad for the leadership that was in this church for 25 years that said this is the trail and this is the only trail and we are going to travel down this trail. I’m glad for the leadership that said – STAY ON THE RIGHT TRAIL!

Which trail are you on?

Maybe you’ve never thought about it much before, but YOU are on a trail too. Right now this very instant you are on a trail. It may be the right trail or it may be the wrong trail but either way you’re smack dab in the middle of a trail. If you’re on the wrong trail there is still time to get on the right one or if you’re on the right trail you could choose the wrong one tomorrow. Every morning when you get out of bed you choose the trail that you will travel all over again.

Which trail are you on?

The Christian life is a journey. Or put another way the Christian life is a trail that is traveled. It’s a trail that begins at conception and ends at death. Right now you’re about to take the next step and only eternity will reveal how crucial it may be.

Picture with me a lone hiker on a winding mountain trail. He has hiked the better part of the day over rough terrain making switchback after switchback as he climbs the steep grade. Finally he comes to a wide place in the trail and a large flat rock and there he lifts off the heavy pack from his weary shoulders and sits down on the rock soaking up the late afternoon sun. From there he looks out over the vista and takes note of the winding trail that he has just traveled on. Though the trail is long, the mountain air is crystal clear and the hiker can see a great distance off.

That’s a picture of King David as he looks back over his life in Psalm 71.

5 For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.

6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.