“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Jeremiah 6:16

The state motto of Indiana is  ” The crossroads of America”  and is called that because it was the place where many of the major highways crossed in the United States. In America, we have many paths we could take as a country. One generation is about to replace another and we really have to ask ourselves what type of nation we will become?  God gave this word to Jeremiah :

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

This word tells us to “ASK” for the ancient paths to ” ASK ” where the good way is, and ” WALK” in it. The promises are that WE WILL FIND ” REST” FOR OUR SOULS. I can tell you we need rest for our souls because there are too many restless souls addicted to harmful and self-destructive paths. Unfortunately, the people of Jeremiah’s day were stubborn and didn’t ” WALK” in the right paths, therefore, they never found rest for their soul, but our story can be different!

As a country, we stand at the crossroads of a generation, and we have a decision about what type of country we will become. One that turns to God and finds rest for our souls or one that turns to destruction.

If we look up the word ancient we see that it means a couple of things, but the one that makes sense is its archaic term which means “a standard, flag, ensign “ . I was reading a book a year ago about post-truth, 2016 was named the year of post-truth by the Oxford dictionary. We certainly live in a generation that has shifting standards. Living in this era is like being at a stoplight, and you see a big semi-truck to your right, and it begins to move…wait… or … are you moving? You can’t tell until you find a reference point…be it a tree in the far distance. When you look at the tree in the distance it cures your vertigo and helps you know where you stand. But if we didn’t look off in the distance to something that is established we couldn’t make correct judgments about ourselves, and whether if it was us… or the thing next to us was moving.

In this crazy world, we have a standard and it’s an old rugged cross. It’s the symbol of selfless love, it’s the symbol of forgiveness and unity. It’s what I always go back to when I’m feeling vertigo from a world spinning way too fast. Jesus is the landmark of humanity, he is the “Ancient of Days” and shows us The Way.

Dear heavenly father, show us the ancient paths, show us your ways, so that we may walk in them, and find rest for our souls. Amen.