Short Cut

Facing crossroads: One way is straight, and the other is winding, most people should know which way takes shorter time if both of them lead to the same destination. However, that does not mean they will wisely choose the right short cut. Among the twelve spies sent by Moses, only two were courageous enough to encourage the people to “go up and take possession of the land” (Numbers 13:30), while all the others refused to go because they were driven by fear. Surely, they would not know that the winding road they chose would take them 40 years to get to their destination. If they had ever known, they would have gone “up to the place the Lord promised” (Numbers 14:40). If this 40-year-long journey is not frustrating enough for this group of nomadic people, then how hopeless must it be for them to travel knowing for certain that they will not be able to enter the land even if they get there one day.

Nowadays, when one looks at the map as an outsider it is not difficult to find out how much easier it would have been for the Israel to travel the straight road from Egypt to Jericho, instead of going the roundabout way of Rameses, Mount Sinai, Ezion Geber, Kadesh, to Jericho. However, while it is easy to criticize how stubborn the Israelites had been, people nowadays are not any better than them. The similar tricks and failures are still playing in our life. Everyone who has the experience of circling around the big parking lot on North Campus to find a good spot on Tuesday morning will easily understand the following illustration. It is so easy for the one who stands in the hallway on the second floor and looks through the window to tell the people to turn left and turn right to get the spot. Many times in life, people are driving their own cars trying to find a spot in the best area according to their standard, but they circle around and around without finding any place. God, who is standing on the second floor, whispers, shouts and waves to get their attention: “Stop circling; there is no parking space here for you.” However, they refuse to go anywhere else because they think their way is the short cut for them to get to their destination. There are also so many times people give a glance at the seemingly full parking lot and turn away without going into it, and so they ignore the heavenly Father’s voice again: “There is a man trying to leave. Come and get his spot.”

The Old Testament, from Moses’ time to Judges, to the period after Kings, is a history of wandering and being rebellious. Israel was wandering again and again without finding a right entrance. The people did not know what was best for them. And after the Southern kingdom and the Northern kingdom were ruined, the people ended up in the wilderness again. Though God was their royal and loyal commander from the beginning to the end, the Israel people just wanted to choose their own commander. They abandoned their God so many times and deceived themselves by their so called "gods", as well as the human leaders chosen among them. During the time His children were wandering, God was so patient to call them, wait for them and guide them back to His designed short cut. This loyalty that God showed toward His people makes Christianity so much different from other religion. Instead of the one way communication, in which people unilaterally butter up some fake gods who desire no mutual intimacy with their people, Christianity is about a perfect God who is so compassionate to seek his people and to bring his people back to Him. Since it is the way He designed, He and Him only knows where the short cut is, and the only thing His people need to do is to humbly follow Him and courageously take a first step towards it.