Religion: A Pastor Ponders

A traveling companion

By Pastor William Jenkins

November 14, 2007

Mr. Guy Tulley was an older gentleman I knew while a pastor in deep East Texas. Occasionally he would show up at our back door bearing produce from his garden. When he died a piece of paper was found on the garage wall near where his car was parked. On it were these words:

May Jesus Christ go with you:
Before you to show you the way,
Behind you to encourage you,
Beside you to befriend you,
Above you to watch over you,
Within you to give you His peace.

These words were the prayer of a man who knew who his traveling companion was.

Recently my wife and I visited in Alaska. One of the most remarkable things we witnessed was the running of the salmon. They were returning to the place of their birth. Some of them had been in the ocean for several years, traveling thousands of uncharted miles. How did they know the way home? Of all the streams they could have swam into, how did they know the correct one? Scientist will explain it as instinct. Others of us explain it as God’s intelligent design.

The Bible is God’s intelligently designed guidebook for living. In the Psalms God promises, “I will instruct you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.” Luke 1:79 reminds us that Jesus came to “guide our feet in the ways of peace.” Jesus promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Whenever life is full of changes, planned and unexpected, it is good to know our guide is a constant companion.

It is never a good idea to fall behind a guide or to go ahead of one. In order for a guide to be effective we must follow close and pay attention. And it is true that the darker the path we travel the closer we must keep to our Guide.

God promises to be our traveling companion.

League City United Methodist Church is located at 1411 Main Street (FM 518), one block east of Interstate 45. For information, call the church offices at 281-332-1557 or visit the Web site at

HYPERLINK - http://www.lcumc.org