Have you seen the Instagram meme – The wife is driving and the husband is giving directions, “turn north at the next intersection,” and the wife’s cheeky response, “Listen Christopher Columbus, do I turn at Taco Bell or do I head toward Target?” Yaaaaaaaaas! I identify. That meme was on a constant loop through my mind last week on my trip to Seaside, Florida. Once we got off the Interstate at some point in Alabama, our GPS (for the sake of this post she is here named Gypsy) well Gypsy just went off. “In 10 miles turn left, in 12 miles go south.” We literally meandered through Alabama. I’m not kidding. I’m pretty sure we drove on every state highway or county road in the state of Alabama, but I learned something about myself. I am by nature in my heart of hearts a meanderer. I enjoyed getting off the interstate and driving through the countryside. Traveling the Interstate highway system through the US is like my son’s motto while tripping it with his friends in high school, “Just go man!” Remember what Miss Sally told Lightning McQueen in the classic movie CARS, as she explained that Route 66 moved with the land rather than cutting straight through it. “Cars didn’t drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.” That quote just speaks to my soul. I live in Knoxville, TN now. I-40 cuts straight through the heart of the city. It is usually the fastest route to get from east to west in Knoxville, but I avoid it. I most generally choose to take a road called Northshore. There is no east, west, north, or south to this road, and at any point all 4 directions can be true. It meanders along the north shore of the Tennessee River, and the scenery is beautiful. In the fall every color of the trees is on full display. In the cold, fog rolls in and mists the Smokey Mountains. And dear old Gypsy has me figured out. Every destination I choose she takes me down Northshore.
This summer I have taken my meandering spirit into my Bible reading. I have meandered through Genesis, traveling with Abraham and all his wanderings, and Isaac, and Jacob going from well to well to offering structure to offering structure. I’ve read slower, I’ve written down what the Holy Spirit of God has shown me. And now I am traveling through the gospels as Jesus meanders through the countryside of Galilee to Jerusalem. So what does it look like to meander through the Bible? Take a walk with me.
““This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you — you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-34 HCSB
Put yourself in this scene with Jesus. Look up. Observe the birds. No, I really mean watch them. I did. I watched seagulls on the beach. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Walk slowly down the path as Jesus pointed out the objects in nature. Use your “sanctified imagination” as one of my pastors calls it. We have beautiful lilies of all colors in my neighborhood. There is a wonderful floral scent in the air as I walk these Tennessee hills. From those verses I am drawn to the fact that God gave them their petals with all the colors of the rainbow. I slow down. I use to walk with my Iwatch trying to beat my pace from the day before. You know what, I’m 64, why do I care if I walk a mile less than 15 minutes? I’ll tell you right now, no way am I gonna make a mile less than 30 minutes going up and down these hills. I’m ok with that. I am a meanderer.
I am now meandering through the Gospel of John. I only read short sections. I’ve watched Jesus dance and celebrate a wedding. I’ve seen Jesus take water pots and turn water into wine. I’ve imagined myself tasting the best wine ever created. I’ve meandered with Jesus as He too traversed the hills of Judea, heading to Jerusalem to celebrate festivals. Up and down. I’ve put myself in His entourage and listened as they would sing the songs of Ascent found in the book of Psalms. I’ve tried to walk close enough to RABBONI to hear His every word and then look down at my sandaled feet to see the dust of His sandals cake on them.
That’s my meandering spirit coming out in my “sanctified imagination” as I have slowed my Bible reading. My recommendation, don’t drive through your daily Bible reading to make great time and to get that little check mark showing you completed today’s chapters. Drive through the Bible to have a great time with Jesus, the Author of His Word.
And join me with my book “On the Way.”