October 9. Watching For Billboards And Road Signs.

Are you moving along a path of some kind? We might recognize that everyone is moving on a path of some kind. As leaders, we are moving forward on some kind of path with a team. The team that we lead is hopefully paying attention as we move.

There are landmarks, signs and natural markers that help us to see the route we are taking. The landmarks can blend in as part of nature but must be given meaning by us as the leader for our team to be able to use them correctly. That process will help everyone to stay on track. But these landmarks are also good for a return trip.

If our team can repeat a process, our own signs and landmarks would be important to repeat the trip we want to experience again and again. Sometimes teams are so busy on the path that it does not get marked well and when that happens it is easier to get lost.

One critical component about recognizing and using the signs is our attitude. Are we being curious so as to look for the markers? If not, we can forget that we have been somewhere before on a path. We can lose confidence and get lost along the way.

Where might your team be better able to serve with some road signs? What attitudes are getting in the way of being curious? If you have some, they might be blocking our ability to recognize the signs.

A set of binoculars to see into the distance is only valuable if your curiosity will allow you to pick them up and look through them. What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?

As a people of faith, we are on a journey of faith as well. We travel on a path which Christ said was narrow. But the good news is that we have forgiveness and God's grace when we wind up getting off of the path.

We read, “Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again, my virgin Israel; return to your towns here.” Jeremiah 31:21 NLT. Where might you have gotten off the path recently? Have you strayed from reading the word?

Have you made your entertainment your priority over loving others? Have you come to God in prayer already today? There are so many calls for our attention and Satan knows that anything that gets your attention away from our loving God is a win for him.

If we are keeping an attitude of curiosity, we can be looking for the signs of God in our lives. If our attitudes are keeping love for others at the top of our mind, we can find new ways to be in relationships. Where might God be shining the light to bring you back to his path?

Do you have a pair of binoculars to look and recognize the signs today? What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace. We stray from you, we hurt others, and act selfishly at times. We make our own gods and idols, still today, like those people of the Old Testament.

But we have Jesus and a relationship with him that reminds us that nothing is more important than you. Shine your light on our path to bring us back from the wilderness where we have gotten lost. Make the beacon in the sky draw us near and keep strengthening our curiosity and love to know you more. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,