NPR had the most interesting story recently about why human beings cannot walk straight. They said, “Try this: Put a blindfold on someone, take them to a park or a beach or a meadow and ask them to walk for as long as they can in a straight line. Then watch what happens.”
According to this story (because I haven’t yet field-tested this theory personally, but I will), people cannot walk in a straight line if they’re blindfolded. Oftentimes they’ll walk in circles and not even realize it. Now, if you ask these people, they believe they’re walking straight…but obviously they aren’t!
Now the story said that there’s no real answer as to why we can’t walk straight, but one theory is that human beings need a focal point out in the distance in order to walk straight. Without it, our internal guidance system kicks in…but there’s something inside us that won't stay straight.
That, my friend, is a sermon illustration just waiting to be told!
A great verse that prophesied the birth of Jesus 700 years before the fact is Isaiah 9:2. It says, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”
In John 8:12, Jesus said about Himself, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” But sadly, as John 3:19 puts it, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, God became a man in the Person of Jesus Christ in order to remove the blindfold of darkness and to provide a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood example—focal point, if you will—to follow. Our internal guidance system is broken—“…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” So, one of the clearest, most compelling Christmas messages I could give you today would be to keep your eyes on Jesus…and follow Him!
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