Walking in a Straight Line

As a kid, one of my jobs was mowing the lawn. When I started, I would weave back and forth making the lines in the lawn look more like waves than the traditional straight pattern that my dad preferred. The next time I went to mow the lawn my dad walked out with me and told me not to look directly in front of the mower. He told me that I should instead look at what would be the end of the pass. In our yard that was about 50 yards away and I thought there would be no way this would work. I thought that I would end up missing parts of the lawn and again mowed the lawn looking at the front tires. Of course, the lines were once again crooked. A week later my dad walked out with me one more time and told me to look at him the whole time. When I voiced my concern, he reassured me that he would tell me if I missed any grass. Reluctantly I took his advice and looked at him the whole way. At the end of the pass he would walk to the other side and again I would walk towards him. This went on until the front yard was done. After turning off the mower, my dad took me out on the lawn and showed me the perfectly straight lines that I had made. I was amazed at how looking far in front of me yielded a perfectly straight path.

In Psalm 16:8, David says: "I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." It is amazing how the same lesson my father taught me to mow a perfect lawn is the very same lesson God teaches us to follow Him. God asks that we should keep our eyes on Him and we will not be shaken. Just like looking at the front wheel of the mower, when we obsess about our current circumstances our path becomes crooked and our trip to God is longer. When we keep our eyes on our heavenly father, just like looking at my dad, we are able to stay on the straight and narrow path to God.