"The Road Not Taken"

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ~ "The Road not taken" by Robert Frost ~ Recently, I heard this poem on an old episode on Fame. But what a powerful poem! It's important for us to understand that the life we live is our life! There are no do overs. All the decisions we make affect our lives. Some will affect us for the good and some for the bad. It would be so easy if God took away our free will and just made all the decisions. That would be easy.  But God wants us to chose the right thing.

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life,..." Deuteronomy 30:19. The choice is ours. But be warned that the road of life, the right thing to do will be the road less traveled. 
Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33. It may not be easy but God will help you through it. The day you stand before Him, and we all will whether we believe in Him or not, the Bible says, "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment," Hebrews 9:27. Will you live your life without regrets? Poet Robert Frost was pondering the "What would have been" but the truth is that you never have to wonder as long as you make the right choices. 


1. Choose to follow Christ. It may not be popular but it's worth. 


2. Choose to live every day as if it were you last. Talk to people who have suffered with Cancer or a near death experience. And many will tell you that they appreciate everyday and try to live it to the fullest.


3. Choose to stay on the road that is less traveled it will make the difference in your life. 

What's your motive? (1)

9 Come, all you beasts of the field,    come and devour, all you beasts of the forest! 10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. 11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. 12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!  Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.” Isaiah 56:9-12 (NIV)

In this portion of Scripture we read about dogs that:

(1) Don’t know anything.

(2) Lost their voice so they are no able to warn others.

(3) They like to sleep.

(4) They are dreamers.

(5) They have no real knowledge of God.

So what does a dog have to do with you?

Growing up I had a German shepherd and we brought a trainer in to help us with him. I loved to watch her train him. I began to notice that every time he did something good she gave him a treat. When she would leave and we tried to get him to obey it never worked. I believe it’s because we didn’t give him the treat that the trainer did. A dog is motivated to do good things to receive approval from others or because some reward is given. Let’s compare a sheepdog and a shepherd.

A sheepdog will protect the sheep on the basis of a reward or approval from the shepherd. While a shepherd on the other hand will take care of and protects the sheep on the basis that he really cares about them. The shepherd invests a lot of energy and effort into raising the sheep and tending to their every need.

            What’s your motivation to care about others? Is it for your own selfish gain or because you actually care about those around you?