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Perils to Shun, January 5
O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
Jeremiah 10:23
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The road through Knight’s Canyon, always perilous to the inexpe-
rienced traveler, is often impassable in the rainy season. [
Account of a
journey from Healdsburg to St. Helena, California, made by Mrs. White
and a friend, in December, 1881. Friends drove ahead to guide them
through a dangerous pass.
] We were very thankful for a pilot in this part of
our journey. I dared not look either to the right or left to view the scenery,
but, holding the lines firmly, and guiding my horse in the narrow passage,
I followed our leader. Carelessness here would have been fatal. Had our
horse turned out of the right path, we should have plunged down a steep
precipice, into the ravine below.
As we rode along in almost breathless silence, I could but think how
forcibly this dangerous ride illustrates the Christian’s experience. We are
making life’s journey amid the perils of the last days. We need to watch
carefully every step, and to be sure that we are following our great Leader.
Skepticism, infidelity, dissipation, and crime are on every hand. It would
be an easy matter to let go the reins of self-control, and plunge over the
precipice to sure destruction....
Infinite Love has cast up a pathway upon which the ransomed of the
Lord may pass from earth to heaven. That path is the Son of God. Angel
guides are sent to direct our erring feet. Heaven’s glorious ladder is let
down in every man’s path, barring his way to vice and folly. He must
trample upon a crucified Redeemer ere he can pass onward to a life of sin.
Our heavenly Father’s voice is calling us, Come up hither.... The humble,
trusting ones are guided and protected in the way of peace. But He who
is infinite in wisdom compels none to accept Heaven’s most precious
gift—compels none to walk in the path which has been cast up at such
a cost. Every one is permitted to choose for himself the narrow, shining
steep that leads to heaven, or that broader and easier way which ends in
death.
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