Wednesday-Wandering

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

2 Peter 2:15,16

There’s wandering and then there’s wandering. Kids wander all the time. Just watch a small child wander all over the place. It could be in a house, at the store, or in a park. They don’t seem to have any focus except for the next thing that gets their attention.

I worked for a guy like this. He was a brilliant executive who had forgotten more than I would ever know. He had hundreds of people working for him. He was responsible for a very large budget and all the computers at a large company. And yet, he wandered all over the place.

His wandering wasn’t where he walked but it was in his mind. Whenever any new idea or computer technology came up, he assigned me to look into it. Sometimes I picked up the phone and sometimes I got on an airplane to learn all about it and repost back to him. And while I learned a lot, most of the ideas or equipment never amounted to much.

Mary Ann once wandered when she made a wrong turn and accidentally got on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. She immediately knew that something was wrong and that she had to get off. Her fear increased when she looked down and saw that the car was almost out of gas. Her fears rose to new heights when she saw a sign that said the next exit was 47 miles.

As she breathed a prayer to God about her dilemma, our kids overheard this and started screaming. “We’re going to be stuck out here. We’re never going to go home. We’ll never see daddy or our dog again. When she got to the toll both, a very kind person comforted her fears and told her where to turn around. In a couple of minutes, Mary Ann was off the turnpike and filling the car up with gas.

When Peter writes about the wandering of these false teachers, he’s talking about a very different kind of wandering. This isn’t some form of spiritual ADHD that they were dealing with. No, they were wandering on purpose. There was nothing accidental about who they were or what they were teaching.

They didn’t just leave the truth a while ago. They didn’t accidentally take a wrong turn or miss an exit on the interstate. It isn’t something they did a while ago and have been trying to fix it. No, they were actively and continually dumping the truth on the side of the road.

Instead of following God’s road, they had abandoned it for their own. They left God’s smooth and flat way and detoured themselves and everyone following them onto an old road that was rough and took you out of your way.

And why did they do this to themselves and anyone who would listen to them? Because it paid well. They loved the wages of wickedness. They loved this this world more than they loved God[1].

Being well paid comes in a whole lot of different ways. Sometimes it is all about the money – it’s that simple. Sometimes it’s about the number of people that are listening and following. Sometimes it’s all about the number of followers or likes they’re getting on the internet. The number of books they have written and sold.

It’s no wonder that Peter’s all upset about these false teachers. He had lived up close and personal with Jesus himself. He saw exactly who God was and how he lived. What Jesus thought was important. Where Jesus spent his time. He saw the King of Kings and Lord of Lords[2] and what did he see?

• He was homeless[3].

• Only had the clothes on his back[4].

• His family wanted to have him committed[5].

• Was hated by the people in power[6].

• Didn’t have enough money to pay taxes[7].

• He stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature[8].

Jesus was both fully God and fully man[9]. He lived a perfect life[10]. He loved God the Father and turned away from wickedness. Yes, he’s a model of how to live this life. But more importantly, he’s the one and only way to be reunited with God. He’s the straight way to have all our sins totally forgiven. To be restored to how God once and for all. He’s calling us back from our wandering to walk with him all the days of our lives. It’s time to stop wandering. I beg you, stop your wandering and follow Jesus.

Noodling Questions

• Describe a time when you wandered and got lost

• How is wandering from God a total waste of time and energy?

• List three ways to stop your wandering.

[1] 2 Timothy 4:10

[2] 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14; 19:16

[3] Matthew 8:20

[4] Matthew 27:35

[5] Mark 3:21

[6] Matthew 12:14

[7] Matthew 17:22-27

[8] Philippians 2:7

[9] 1 Timothy 2:5

[10] 2 Corinthians 5:21