The King's Highways

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Colossians 1:16 & 17 

When you think about it, if you ever really think about it; how awesome is it that the One who set the universe in motion & upholds ALL things by His Almighty Hand is our Heavenly Father, we are His children & He owns all 'the cattle on a thousand hills'?! Not only that, He also gave all His children the brains & ability to create everything that man could contrive! 

Many Christians will readily acknowledge that our Father gave this world over to the devil, otherwise known as the mystical, mythical fallen angel called 'Satan'! As one who understands that the Scriptures that speak of this evil 'personage' were written, not only in a different language, but to an ancient people in a much different culture; I heartily disagree! When one reads in Scripture 'the god of this age' ( II Corinthians 4:4-KJV erroneously reads 'world' instead of 'age' ), they must also remember that Psalm 11:15b reads, 'the earth He has given to the children of men'!

Having recently returned from an adventure ( is it really over? ), I had the opportunity to travel some highways & biways I had never been on before & to tell you the truth, it can get interesting! Knowing that these roads are maintained by the tax monies of the residents of that particular state or by otherwise ill-gotten gains might give one pause to think, but when we realize that our Heavenly Father is King of Everything & that none of this would be here unless He had given life to those who built these roads, we may be comforted by the fact that wherever we go & whatever we do, it is not without His say-so or aid!

When we use anything that is fashioned by the mind of man, are we truly operating outside our Father's care? I acknowledge that we must use our best judgment, for as the apostle Paul himself wrote 'All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any'( I Corinthians 6:12 ); we have the freedom to use all things in creation as we choose, but not all those choices are the best; in fact, some are the worst possible!

There is right & there is wrong; I'm not saying, by any means, that our Father is pleased when we make wrong choices, but as any good father, though He may chastise us ( or allow us to be chastised ) when we do make bad or wrong choices, we are still His children, He still cares for us as our Heavenly Father!

Most recently, a friend of mine was murdered; he paid with his life for what may be a series of bad choices! Did he perish because he was not on the King's Highway? Some would doubtless say so, but was he not really? Even though he had made some wrong or bad choices, did he die because his Heavenly Father, His Creator no longer cared for him? Scripturally speaking maybe, one might say that his Heavenly Father lifted the 'hedge of protection' from him, allowing him to be shot in the head & killed, but as we saw earlier, these scriptures were written concerning a specific people & they were not Americans living in the 21st century ( this is not to say that Scripture holds nothing for us )!

Although, through that engine of 'choice', not all who traverse the King's Highways enjoy the same level of comfort, blessing & protection, we are all under the care of our Heavenly Father, our Creator God! If the Creator had not given His Creation the brains & ability to co-create ( or pro-create ) then much of what we bear witness to in this world would not exist. We have the freedom to make whatever choice we wish but not every choice we would make is good, right & just, so let us ever strive to make choices that ARE good, right & just that we might enjoy our journey on the King's Highways!

Charles Haddon Shank