You don’t really know where you’re going until you get there, unless you’ve been there before.

That’s why some people love maps—real, old-style, paper maps. Maps will tell you the general scope of the place you hope to go; they even let you see the connection between where you are and where you hope to be. You can see the big picture, and if that map is a Google Map, you can also zoom in and see the details, how the place looks. These days, many people don’t use maps anymore; they just follow directions from their GPS.

But your GPS won’t really do all that the map does. It’ll tell you what you need to know at the moment—one turn, one road, one detail at a time—but you usually don’t get the big picture.

Jesus has a map of where everything, everyone, is going all the time forever, but his call to follow, to be his disciple, to know him, hear him, be loved by him, and love him, comes often one detail at a time. Fortunately, Jesus has been there before. He’s come from the home of God, and he’s returned to the Father’s right hand. His desire is that we will be where he is. As we follow the light in the darkness, he is with us at the beginning, in the middle, and all the way until he brings us to his blessed destination. So we really can follow him without knowing fully what’s further down the line.

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