A road trip during the first century has a different meaning than it does today. Road trips did not include watching movies on the built in DVD player in your vehicle. Nor did a road trip consist of spending time playing plug in plays, Ipod touches or DS game systems. In the days of Jesus, road trips did not have air conditions. Rather, road trips were people investing their time traveling by foot, walking from place to place up and down unpaved roads.
Back in the beginning of 1993, I left Delaware for the mid-west to pursue a calling in youth ministry. During a going away party on New Year’s Eve 1992, Delaware was in the middle of an Indian Summer, call it a heat wave, with temperatures reaching the 60’s and 70’s daily. Shortly after the ball dropped, a small group of us began taking our own little road trip, lasting well over 2 hours, covering several miles into the wee hours of the morning. Our walk began in shorts, about 60 degrees at the start. A few hours later, the temperature dropped 30 degrees, causing us to shiver and huddle together to stay warm. Just like the movie RV, walks can be some of the most memorable road trips you will ever take on earth, bringing people closer than they have ever been before.
Although I ran cross country competitively for 4 years, the hundreds of miles I have spent walking with friends have been some of the best conversations I have ever been apart of. For example, I spent one evening walking 15 miles with a college friend who become the best man in my wedding and I returned the favor in his wedding a few years later. Another conversation on a mission trip turned out to be several hours of confessing secret sins to one another, dark scars from each of our pasts which served as a source of healing and forgiveness. Finally, I once took a walk around the entire city of Neenah, Wisconsin with my girl friend, Leanne, who is now my wife. God put it on my heart to share everything I had ever done so that they would be no surprises in our marriage.
While you may never experience anything like the disciples did on their Walk to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35, Jesus can appear today in the form of the Holt Spirit, John 14:15-18. Road trips don’t have to cost money filling up your car or planning a long list of what to do. Instead, road trips can happen every day in your neighborhood as you begin to take that first step to see what the Spirit has in store, Galatians 5:25.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 