A number of years ago a fictional story from an unknown source circulated on the internet. This is the way I remember it.

    A deadly virus broke out in a distant part of the world. The virus was easily transmitted and led to terrible sickness and death within
days. As soon as the authorities verified the seriousness of the virus, they embarked on finding a cure. Meanwhile, the death toll mounted into the millions within a matter of months.

    While extreme measures were taken, the virus continued to spread to other parts of the world. Widespread sickness and death quickly followed. Soon it became all too obvious that the entire human race faced extinction in the not too distant future. Not surprisingly, governments and health authorities pulled out all the stops as they frantically
raced to find a cure.

    Finally, the experts found the virus had a weakness. Evidently a very rare blood type held the antibody necessary to manufacture an effective antidote for the deadly virus. A worldwide search began for anyone who might have this rare blood type.

    While sickness and death continued to ravage the planet, a young boy was discovered who had the rare blood type needed to stop the pandemic. After rushing him to a hospital for further tests it was determined that the boy’s blood would enable an effective antidote for the virus to be quickly manufactured. As the encouraging news leaked out, the world finally had a reason for hope!

    Meanwhile, the parents of the boy were told the ominous news. In order to get enough antibodies for the quantity of vaccines that would be needed, all of their son’s blood would be required. If the son didn’t immediately give up all his blood, the world would perish before enough vaccine could be produced and disseminated.

    Incredibly, the parents broke down and gave the doctors permission to take their son’s lifeblood, all of it. After exchanging heart wrenching goodbyes with their innocent child, the parents watched their only son’s life slip away while his precious blood was taken from him. While the rest of the world rejoiced, these parents sobbed uncontrollably.

    True to the promise of the experts, the vaccine stopped the spread of the deadly virus and mankind was spared extinction. As the world began to work through the rebuilding process, many suggested a worldwide holiday to remember the sacrifice that had been made for their salvation.

    Once established, the first few observances of this holiday were quite meaningful. But as the years and generations marched on, the holiday soon became like so many other holidays. Some extra time off work, and an occasion to enjoy more family outings. Few people took the time to stop and remember that if the son hadn’t died, they wouldn’t have lived.

    As it turns out, not all of this story was fiction.

One of the greatest joys I had when I was an instructor at Moody Aviation was having my students come to our home for an evening of food and fellowship. Without exception, we found each of them had a fascinating story to tell and many unique qualities to respect! Nevertheless, getting them to find our house in the country was a continual challenge! Therefore, I made a map showing them how to get to our home and distributed it to my students as needed.

    However, since the way to our house involved lots of narrow, winding roads, and my map was crude at best, some students would get lost along the way. In the end, I found the most effective way to get them to our place was to meet them at the airport and say, “Follow me!” While giving them a map was much easier for me, allowing them to follow me was much easier for them. Sometimes my students would get lost following my map, yet not one of them ever got lost following me!

    I wonder if God doesn’t give us too many detailed instructions for our lives because He knows how easy it is for us to get lost following a map. Yes, we have God’s Word to give us general directions, but so many personal details aren’t given in there. And while He certainly could make a way to give us a more detailed map for our lives, He has taken the more helpful approach by simply saying, “Follow Me!”

    Moment by moment, decision by decision, day by day, season by season, we are expected to follow His heavenly GPS signals. “Go straight, turn left, turn right. Speed up, slow down. Avoid that pothole, watch out for that drop-off, beware of that other car!” And we certainly don’t want to hear that dreaded GPS announcement, “Recalculating” that indicated we missed a turn! So we listen carefully to our Mapmaker and Master, and we obey Him without question or delay. It’s the best plan, it’s God’s plan.

    When we make our own plans, or when we follow someone else’s map, we are destined to get lost. Even so, some people encourage us to follow our hearts. Yet the Bible says our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, and who can know it? Others tell us to follow the crowd since the majority must have it right. But Jesus said the gate is wide and the road is broad, and the majority will follow the path of least resistance, even though it leads to their eventual destruction.

    We must walk by faith in Jesus! When we do, we will not only make it to our final destination, we will please God every step of the way! Jesus said He is the Way, the only Way: through the maze of this life, and to the bliss of eternal life. We don’t need a detailed map for our life. Our Mapmaker simply says, “Follow Me!”