Here’s Your Sign:

Some time ago, my husband, Ed, and I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Breaks Interstate Park, which shares the border of Kentucky and Virginia.  We were blessed with a perfect sunshiny day.  As we started the trip from our home in Pineville, Kentucky, we were listening to sixties and seventies music on Sirius XM Radio, and singing along like Carpool Karaoke. We were having so much fun blasting out the lyrics to songs like, “Wild Thing...You Make My Heart Sing...,” and, “Get Your Motor Running...Head Out on the Highway...Looking For Adventure...Whatever Comes My Way...,” or, “Why Do You Build Me Up Buttercup, Just to Let Me Down...” and one of my favorites, “Something Tells Me, I’m Into Something Good....”. This hilarity went on for miles and miles. We felt like a kid again - carefree and rolling down the highway.  

When a song by The Carpenters came on the radio, I was singing along, just like Karen Carpenter, when I heard the line, “...watching the signs along the way...”. So, as we drove along past houses, farms and fields, I began to pay attention to each sign that designated the small towns and communities. I passed signs like, Loyal, Wallins, Baxter, Harlan, Coldiron, Totz, Cumberland, and Jenkins, (no relation). I imagined a train engineer shouting out each stop in his strong and loud voice. We went through Elkhorn City, and I saw a few statues of elk...with horns. We drove by what used to be The Rusty Fork Restaurant, but it was now closed down. We passed a sign that said, “Bad Branch Falls.” I decided that I may need to hike that trail sometime. We went up Whitesburg Mountain, which is actually Pine Mountain. Some call it one thing, and some, another. I saw signs that read, “Little Shepherd Trail,” and a huge sign at the entrance to an outdoor theater, which was advertising the drama, “Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come.” I wondered out loud if they still held performances there. I made up my mind that I must go and see it sometime. At the top of the mountain was an overlook, with a breathtaking view of the valley below.  

We continued our journey, and saw other signs with interesting names. Names like, Grundy, Haysi, (pronounced HAY-SYE), Marrow Bone, Hellier, and Wolf Pit.  I began to wonder how some of theses towns got their name?  Then, I wondered if other states had communities with odd names. Then I felt a sense of pride in our little piece of Americana. I thought about what life must have been like in these little coal mining towns of yester-year.  How times have changed. 

Jesus talked about signs many times in the New Testament. Often, He was rebuking people who asked for a sign. In Mark 8:12, the Bible says, “He sighed deeply and said, Why does this generation ask for a sign?”

However, in Matthew 24, when the disciples came to Him, asking for signs about the end times, He readily spoke to them, naming a long list of many signs and wonders which will take place before the end of time. 

As I read through Chapter 24 of Matthew, one verse stood out to me.
Matthew24:35 - “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Just like the small towns that we traveled through, that have changed so much over the years, but their names have stayed the same. Times may have changed, people may have changed, but God’s Word, and the name of Jesus will never change! 

Therefore, as we go along our journey in this life, we need to be ready when the time comes. We need to keep watch. We need to point others to Christ, so that they can join us on this journey. Then, one day, the almighty Engineer will call out, “Well done thou good and faithful servant!”

So...what are you waiting for?  Get your motor running. Head out on the highway.  Be a Wild Thing, (for Jesus), and make everything groovy!  Something tells me...you’ll be in for something good!  

HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY!