Walking down a dusty road

It may be difficult for the younger generation to understand, but we haven't always had freeways and Interstate Highway systems.  When I was young, the main roads were paved, but lots of the city streets and most of the country roads were dirt and gravel. 

My memories of dirt roads take me back to visiting with grandparents on the farms where my mom and dad grew up. The two sets of my grandparents lived a little over a mile apart, and the country roads connecting them were all dirt.  The main road was paved some years later, but I remember it primarily as being dirt, and there was little or no traffic. 

The farm on which mom grew up was less than a mile from the small town. It was a treat to be allowed to walk that road into town and buy something from the store.  Of course the streets in the town were not paved and it was common to see people walking on the dusty roads.

We could always entertain ourselves by throwing rocks to see who could hit a power pole.  Even for a young boy, there could be some times of thinking and learning while walking down a dirt road.

It probably goes without saying, but all the roads in Bible times were unpaved.  Not only that, we can surmise those roads were probably much like the trails in the old Western movies on TV.  I tell you this to help you understand that life itself was slower then, but it was also a time devoid of the hurrying and rushing.  It's a walk down a country road that can bring quality to life, more observation of nature, and the walk itself can be quite relaxing. 

On one dirt road in Bible times, a man named Saul of Tarsus had an encounter with Jesus.  In fact, Saul was on his trip for the purpose to making things difficult for Christians, and he was just the man to put a stop to the spread of Christianity by putting Christians in jail.  His life was dedicated to bringing a halt to all the talk and excitement about Jesus.  Yet there were changes in Saul's life that day.  While traveling down that dirt road, he had an encounter with Jesus.  Bear in mind all this was happening AFTER the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord.  Through his encounter with Jesus, Saul was baptized and his heart was changed.  We know him as Paul, the writer of New Testament books, the missionary that brought advancement to the spread of the gospel, the man who considered himself the chief of sinners, but we consider him among the giants of faith. 

What would you like to happen on your dirt road?  Would you be one to walk by on the other side of the road if you had found a man beaten and left for dead, like on the road to Jericho?  Would you be one to contemplate, during your dusty walk, the changes in your life which would bring about a deeper, more intimate relationship with your Lord?   Let's take a walk......and see. 

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