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Where Are You Going
“Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you
are looking for before you begin looking for it.”
Winnie the Pooh
Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
Winnie the Pooh, of course, was likely looking for honey in the Hundred Acre Wood. The bear’s advice, however, is on target. People sometimes spend a great deal of time and energy looking for something, but have never quite figured out what, exactly, they are looking for.
“Direction is more important than speed,” so the saying goes, “We are so busy looking at our speedometers that we forget the milestone.”
As a nation, we need a clear direction. Too often we become enmeshed in the details of public policy without answering the basic question, “What sort of country do we want America to be?”
John W. Gardner spoke to this point, “America’s greatness has been the greatness of a free people who shared certain moral commitments. Freedom without moral commitment is aimless and promptly self-destructive.”
We should all worry when our national attention shifts away from values, for without a moral framework everything we love about our nation is in jeopardy.
In the church, as well, we must keep our basic mission in mind.
We must maintain a commitment to the Bible, faithfully following the pattern of work and of worship God has given to us. We must let God guide our lives and direct us in the right way.
Maintaining the proper focus, we can achieve great things in the Lord’s service. Without the proper direction, we will end up in the wrong place altogether.
—Gregory Alan Tidwell
Editor, the Gospel Advocate