ODJ: The Road Less Travelled

August 12, 2018 

READ: Romans 14:1-23 

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (v.19 niv).

Brian Jackson lives for adventure. For years he’s led expeditions into some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Having trekked thousands of miles across many continents, he loves nothing more than setting foot where no known human has ever been before. In 2014, he and his team made the ascent of a previously unclimbed peak in the Himalayas, setting foot where no human has probably set foot before.

Scripture describes peace as a rare path that, outside of God, no one can find (Romans 3:12,16). Although many frantically pursue the idea of peace, Jesus, the true Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), is the way to experience real and complete peace (John 14:27). In Him and through Him, we’re made right with God and can live at peace with others (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 12:14).

Through a relationship with Christ, we as believers can come boldly into our Maker’s presence (Hebrews 4:14-16). We can also promote peace, instead of judging or condemning fellow believers (Romans 14:1-9). As Paul reminds us, “Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgement seat of God” (v.10).

Rather than leading us to criticise others, the path of true peace leads us to “live in such a way that [we] will not cause another believer to stumble and fall” (v.13). Because the kingdom of God is about “living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (v.17), believers long to “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (vv.18-19 niv).

The path of true peace may indeed be a road less travelled. But—like the words from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”—it’s the way that makes “all the difference”, now and eternally.

—Ruth O’Reilly-Smith

365-day plan: Luke 14:1-14