How to Enjoy the Journey
Many years ago, I heard a gentleman say as a Christian that he knew he was going to enjoy the destination, but he wanted to enjoy the journey. I thought so much about his statement. My friend is with the Lord now, he is enjoying the destination, but he was exactly right. We all know heaven is going to be wonderful, spending eternity with our great God. But the Lord has made it so that you don’t have to wait until you die or the Lord returns to enjoy Christ.
The Lord gives his joy now, in the present tense. That’s why when we started Enjoying the Journey, we started it to help people to Follow God’s Word and Find Christ’s Joy. You see, true and lasting joy only comes through Jesus Christ. The world cannot give it and circumstances cannot take it away. You can’t muster it up. The Lord has to put it in you and it comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
That’s why if you’re talking about enjoying the journey, you’re not talking about a positive mental outlook or a perfect life or being a perfect person or not having any problems or everybody being nice to you. If that’s what you’re waiting on, you’re going to wait a while. Enjoying the journey is all about knowing and walking with Jesus Christ. So basically there are three things you have to do to enjoy the journey.
1. You must settle your destination.
If you’re going to wander aimlessly through life, you have no idea where you’re going to spend eternity. Friend, there’s very little joy in that. You’ve got to go to the end and work your way back. Where are we going when we die? There are two eternal destinations. Scripture teaches that there’s an eternal heaven, there’s an eternal hell.
That’s why Jesus Christ came. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s perfect Son, came and died for our sins. He was buried and rose again from the dead so that we could have our sins forgiven and have peace with God. Christ came so you can know for sure that you belong to God and that Christ belongs to you. Have you settled on your destination? Do you know for sure if you left this world today that you’re going to be with God forever? That’s where you have to begin. Call on the Lord for Salvation (read more on that HERE). Place your faith in Christ and Christ alone, and not yourself, not another person, not a church, and Christ alone, because only then can you know for sure where you’re going to spend eternity.
All of us are going to spend eternity somewhere, and life is a short trip to forever. Settle your destination.
2. You must learn to enjoy the companionship of Christ.
I can tell you, I travel all the time. Many times I’ve been by myself, seen beautiful things, and been to wonderful places, but I was alone. And I thought, “Oh, I wish the people that I love were here. I wish the people that I enjoy being with were here to experience this with me.” Well, here’s the great thing about being a Christian. When you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, it not only settles your destination someday, but it brings Christ to you today. And Jesus said to his first followers, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). That’s powerful. He said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20).
Enjoying the journey is about learning to walk with Jesus every day. Talk to Him in prayer, and let Him speak to you through His Word. You will find a wonderful companionship that we discover in the person of Jesus Christ. He makes even difficult places wonderful. He makes even hard days sweet, and when you’ve learned to enjoy Jesus, you’ve learned the secret to enjoying the journey.
3. You must learn to use the roadmap.
That’s what the Bible is. Word of God is the roadmap for life. That’s why I’m so passionate about teaching and preaching the Bible and helping people learn to study God’s Word for themselves. When you get into the Bible and the Bible gets into you, you’re going to find direction for life. Look friends, there are twists and turns you cannot plan for. There are ups and downs along the road of life, but the one constant, the one consistent thing is the Word of God. It never changes. It gives truth, it gives direction, it sheds light on your path, and it deals with where you are and where you’re going.
You have to learn to use the roadmap for yourself. That’s why on enjoyingthejourney.org we’re making available so many free Bible study resources. Because the greatest help we can be is in guiding others to the Word of God. Look, I don’t have all the answers. Nobody has all the answers, but you can trust everything that God has to say. Would you like to enjoy the journey? Then you have to learn to Follow God’s Word and Find Christ’s Joy.
Go Deeper!
We would love to hear from you. I hope you’ll take the time to write or send us a message. We would be thrilled to send you a little brochure that I’ve written on the subject of Enjoying the Journey. I think it will help you know more about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And then visit our library here on the website. Download the free resources. Get into the Word of God. Follow along in our daily study of Scripture because our great purpose is to help every man, woman, and young person we possibly can learn to enjoy the journey with Jesus Christ. God bless you!
Click HERE to read the Enjoying the Journey Gospel brochure. You may also order customized Enjoying the Journey brochures HERE in English AND Spanish – these are a wonderful resource as you seek to tell others about Jesus.
