Perceptions #200223

"The Right Path"

by John M. Davis

Serious Bible students remember Adolf von Harnack as a great theologian and that he was. Few remember his son, Ernest von Harnack. He was a German civil servant who was sentenced to death for his implication in the plot to kill Hitler. Those who remember the reign of Hitler, the feared SS troops, concentration camps, etc. might think of Saddam Hussein as rather tame compared to Hitler. Many considered him insane in his last years and such well may have been the case prior to his suicide.

Ernest von Harnack died with the sound of a church hymn being heard even as he died. The hymn was "The Royal Banner Forward Go." Just before the executioner's hand fell, Harnack said, "The important thing is not that one reaches his goal, but that one takes the right path." Folk who knew Harnack remember him as a devout Christian.

One could take issue with Harnack and argue that the goal is more important, but then one must also consider that the goal will never be reached if one does not choose the right path.

After Jesus offered great comfort for troubled hearts He told us how to reach the eternal goal. Thomas had observed, "we don't know where you are going so how can we know the way (John 14:5). Jesus has comforted twenty centuries of believers by assuring us all, I am the way the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father but by me (John 14:6).

We need not walk in darkness nor wonder where we are going. The only safe way is to follow in the safe footsteps of Jesus. Peter tells us He left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).

Many people never stop to ask, "where am I going in this life or even more importantly, in the life to come. Most of us are followers but few stop to take a serious look at the person we follow. So in the final analysis, when we get where we are going now, where will we be?

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