Saul, the great persecutor of the early church, referred to the disciples of Jesus as “belonging to the Way” (Acts 9:1-2). A few years later, while in Ephesus, the converted Paul, finds himself and other disciples, being spoken evil of and persecuted, for belonging to “the Way” (Acts19:9,23). Before governor Felix, Paul confessed that in “the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers,” and Felex himself said that he had “a more exact knowledge about the Way” (Acts 24:14,22).
Perhaps “the Way” came from a statement of Jesus in the upper room, “You know the way I am going,” Jesus told his apostles. Thomas questioned Jesus, “How do we know the way?” to which Jesus replied, “I am the way” and, “no man comes to the Father but by me” (John14:5-6).
While we do not speak of being of “the Way” in today’s world, the Christian life is very much about “the Way.” Jesus is the way to God, the way to forgiveness, the way to eternal life. We follow the “way of the Lord” (Acts 18:18:25) in dealing with daily life, in raising our children, and serving our neighbor. Do you “belong to the Way,” serve God “in the Way,” and have “knowledge of the Way?” Be careful however, “for there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 16:25). Are you on the right “Way?”
-Dennis Doughty
