I recently saw a commercial that boasted that “there are no wrong turns, only unexpected destinations,” or something like that. If taken literally, this would mean that, in life, there is no right or wrong. No absolute truth. Live life any way you want because there aren’t any wrong decisions.
The end result is what is important, and even that doesn’t tell the whole story. Maybe things turned out badly. That’s okay! There are no wrong turns, just unexpected destinations!
So don’t sweat the small stuff. Just do what seems right and let the universe sort it out.
Is this true? Is it really that simple? Are there really no wrong answers in life? Are life’s answers simply what you make of them? Is it impossible to take a wrong turn? Can a society exist by simply following any path?
Let’s look to the Bible for direction as we answer these questions.
What Does a “Wrong Turn Society” Look Like?
Let’s ask another question to answer these questions. What would a world without standards look like?
The Bible gives us an answer. We find it in the Book of Joshua:
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25, NASB 95)
Wow. What a free society! They must have really been advanced to allow their people such freedom of choice. Maybe they realized the ultimate Libertarian dream of total freedom. Or maybe they watched enough Star Trek to discover a superior morality that would allow them to better themselves so that they could live in peace and harmony with everyone.
If you’ve read Judges, you know none of that is even close to reality.
Israel started off well. They had elders trained by Joshua, one of the most capable leaders in their history. Joshua had died, and Israel showed faithfulness to God while those trained by him lived. Israel truly thrived under strong leadership. It was glorious.
And that was that. The last elder died, and Israel had no direction. That’s when everything went down the road to destruction. That’s when everyone had to fend for themselves. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Israel sinned grossly. God punished severely. Israel sinned grossly. God punished severely. Over and over.
Even the Levites, God’s “pastors” of sorts, sunk deep into immorality. The book ends with a story of idolatry, rape, murder and the near total destruction of, Benjamin, one of the tribes of Israel.
This is the result of a “free society.” This is what happens when “everyone does what is right in his own eyes.”
This is what happens when you believe that there are no wrong turns. Just unexpected destinations.
No wrong turns. Seriously?
Not a pretty picture.
A free society can never be completely free of rules. There has to be some kind of framework to guide it. There has to be some basic truth that holds it all together.
Morality holds a society together. Without it, everything falls apart like wet tissue paper in a tornado. It’s the reason why God gave rules, ten to be exact. Without them, society would surely fall apart.
Human beings were meant to live in a free society. God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed to live free. His only rule was that they couldn’t eat of the fruit of one tree (Genesis 2).
What happened? Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit. In one fateful act, they destroyed all of society. They took an eternal wrong turn (Genesis 3).
And we’ve been doing the same ever since. It’s the reason why we don’t want to imagine we could ever make any “wrong turns.”
Unexpected Destinations? Don’t go there!
About those unexpected destinations. God made it clear what man’s end would be if human beings took any wrong turns. Paul put it succinctly: “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23, NASB 95)
The ultimate expression of this is a place called hell. It’s the ultimate “wrong turn,” and we don’t want to go there. If we insist on doing it our way, it will be our very “expected destination.”
Wrong turns? Unexpected destinations? They don’t have to affect our eternity. There is a better way.
So What?
We are a people of “wrong turns,” and if we don’t change that, we’ll end up in “unexpected destinations” we don’t want to be in. What must we do? How can we find our way?
The truth is Jesus is the only way to fix this. He’s the one that makes all of life make sense. Society may prefer “wrong turns” and “unexpected destinations,” but they’re only lying. Jesus tells us what the truth is.
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1–3, NASB 95)
Then He brings it home in verse six:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6, NASB 95)
Jesus is our compass. He’s our road map. He’s our GPS. He’s our assurance that we will never take a “wrong turn” in eternity and end up in a very unfavorable “unexpected destination.”
So stick close to Jesus. He will never lead you wrong.
Have you met my Lord and Savior? If not, click here.
Want more content like this? Consider supporting our outreach!
Looking for more great articles? Click here to find content just like this!
Leave a Reply