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Highway to Heaven

If you’re like me, you may have caught part of this year’s Grammy Award show. I have to admit, I was shocked by the opening number! No, it wasn’t because of outrageous outfits. My horror had nothing to do with raunchy comments or bleeped words. Instead, the dismay was due to the fact that the entire audience stood and sang right along with the band, AC/DC, as they performed their famous rock song Highway to Hell!

That’s right, hundreds of the people present clapped, bobbed their heads, and chanted these words verbatim:

I’m on the highway to hell
on the highway to hell
highway to hell
I’m on the highway to hell

 
For many who’ve listened to the tune for decades, it may have simply represented youthful rebellion of rules and society’s restrictions. But if you look at the rest of the lyrics, you’ll find ideas that are far more frightening:

No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody’s gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody’s gonna mess me round
Hey satan, payed my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey momma, look at me
I’m on my way to the promised land

As I read these words, I wondered if the audience members that night had any clue what they were clapping about and nodding their approval to. Did they really want to have Satan greeting them in that kind of “promised land” one day? Were they in agreement with the rock band’s final phrase “And I’m going down, all the way down. I’m on the highway to hell?” Scary stuff!

This is yet another reason why I’m so thankful God has led me on a different path-His Highway to Heaven! And I am much more interested in following His ideas on how to live than ever before. In fact, the Lord gives us basic instructions in His Word for what this kind of pathway looks like:

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.
Proverbs 16:17 (NASB)

God’s highway may not be very popular in modern society, but at least we know where it ends! Heaven is the final destination for His followers when this life is over, and the Lord is the One who will welcome us into an eternity spent peacefully in His presence simply because we accepted His gift of salvation.
I love the imagery given in the Old Testament of the result of faithfully following God:

And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts. There will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it.
Isaiah 35:8-9 (NLT)

 
Friends, we’re living in times when many around us are totally oblivious to the two pathways that are before them: following God, or not. Let’s pray for those yet-to-be-saved on a daily basis, and may we look for opportunities to share about the life He has given us-and the even better life that awaits us one day soon!

 

Thought of the Month

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Isiah 35:10