Lawrence Kelley.]

While in high school, I learned in mathematics that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That’s simple enough, but life isn’t so simple. Rarely, can one get from point A to point B by a straight line. I live approximately five minutes from the Southside building. If I could travel in a straight line, I could make it in less time. Life is more involved with curves and turns rather than a straight line. The Christian walk is on a highway, but the highway, at times, is winding, running through rugged and hilly terrain. The highway leads to heaven. The goal is worth the journey, but sometimes the way is steep.

We all tend to seek short-cuts, an avenue or path to our destination which is quicker or easier. I can get to the building by several routes, but it took me nearly six months to figure out the shortest route from my apartment to the building (avoiding 20 m.p.h. school zones and occasionally fitting in a trip to McDonald’s for breakfast). Our fast-paced society desires convenience (the prevalence of drive-thru windows and remote control everything suggests this to be the case). Time is precious, so we want to make the best use of it. That’s all well and good (), but sometimes short-cuts are dangerous. Short-cuts in religion are extremely perilous to the soul.

Satan is in the business of offering short-cuts. He short-changes us by providing alluring temporal pleasures in place of eternal pleasure. He offered Jesus a short-cut to obtaining a kingdom ().

No short-cuts exist in arriving at spiritual maturity. It requires faith, patience and labor. One does not learn and know the Scriptures by osmosis. One must love, diligently study and meditate upon the truth. He must pray for wisdom to employ it. Prayer, also, requires learning. An individual’s communication and intimacy with the Father improves with practice and deepens with growth in faith. Just as the physical body does not mature in one day, the Christian does not arrive at spiritual maturity overnight nor without effort. Satan will do his best to throw us some curves, and he will whisper in our ear, “You’re doing great; just relax and take it easy; you can pray and study and work for the Lord later … when it is more convenient.”

The Christian travels the Highway of Holiness ().