If Life’s a Journey ... What’s Your Destination?

by Trish Green

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11 (New International Version)

Everybody travels.

Airports and train stations are hubs of transportation. Highways and byways packed with cars moving in one direction or another are common sights in the summer months. Even if you don’t roam far from home, you still journey. Leaving the house to go to the store or to school is still a trip, or a journey. There’s a destination in mind when one leaves one place and goes to another.

I’ve heard it said, "Life’s a journey, not a destination."

It got me thinking… How many times do I just ‘go somewhere’ without a specific destination in mind?

Not often.

In fact, I have a hard time recalling one instance where I move without some sort of destination in mind. And I’ll bet that you don’t just take off and drive, bike or walk without a destination in mind. Even if you’re only going around the block or winding your way through the neighborhood on an evening stroll, there is a destination… home. I don’t often wander around aimlessly. When I move, there’s purpose behind the movement.

There’s always a destination… whether you think there is or not.

The same is true of life. There really is a destination to be reached at the end. I’m saddened by the people I meet who have no thoughts about their destination in life.

I’ve heard all sorts of answers to the question, "Where are you going with your life?" They range from "getting rich", to "going with the flow."

How sad to not know where you're going or to be without a destination.

As a Christian, I consider myself a stranger and alien in this world. (And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13) I can appreciate the journey. I appreciate the wondrous creation of God, yet I know this is only a prelude to my eternal destination. (Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Hebrews 11:16)

I’ve got my Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (BIBLE) as my map and compass. (Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5)

I’ve got my Light. (Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105)

I know my tour guide. (“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15) Jesus is the only one I trust to lead me to my ultimate destination.

Enjoy the journey, but don’t forget the destination.