The Exchange Club, a community service organization, very early in the twentieth century decided to make aviation safety a focus of their purpose. Pilots did not yet have radio contact with controllers and getting lost was a fairly common occurrence. From coast to coast Exchange Clubs painted arrows on the roofs of buildings pointing the way to the nearest airport. Now we have avionics that will automatically safely land the plane for the pilot.
Jesus was God’s arrow. In John 14:6 Jesus told us He was the Way. The way where? He is the way to eternal safety. At the close of Matthew we have the great Gospel Commission anointing us to be arrows. We are not painted on rooftops. We are walking arrows tasked with getting those about us safely home. It almost sounds like we have an Indian name. “Walking Arrow.”
I almost just wrote that as walking arrows we are responsible for the salvation of those about us. But that isn’t correct. Each person is responsible for themselves. The decision to make Jesus the Lord of their life is a personal decision and cannot be made for them by another. However, it is our task to point out the way. We do so by being genuinely caring, loving and unselfish. Maybe for the next two months we should refrain from engaging in political speech. Politics seems to bring out the worst in us. If someone doesn’t agree with our analyses and candidate preference he or she is automatically an idiot.
In an effort not to speak with a “forked tongue” we should be walking arrows that point to Jesus. It’s a safe way to retain friendships and best of all to see others in the Kingdom.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 12, 2016
PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org