Artwork by Kelly Venturo
Whisk is a squirrel. His house is a hollow tree in a quiet pine forest. Like most squirrels, Whisk is usually busy gathering nuts and storing them up for the winter. But even though Whisk is so busy, he still has time for play once in a while. Most of the time, Whisk plays by himself. But one day, he met another squirrel, who was very friendly and just as playful as Whisk. This squirrel’s name was Batter. Whisk and Batter played together for a whole afternoon. They had so much fun they decided to visit with each other more often.
“Come to my house tomorrow,” said Batter. “I have a huge playground in the trees. Slides, tunnels, forts, rope ladders, even a super tall swing-set. We will have so much fun playing there together!”
“Of course I’ll come tomorrow,” Whisk replied. “But where do you live?”
“That’s the trouble,” said Batter, frowning thoughtfully. “I live all the way on the other side of the forest, far, far from here.”
This, by the way, was a serious trouble indeed. The pine forest where Whisk and Batter lived was very large. There were hundreds of tangled paths winding all through it; it was very easy to get lost there. If a squirrel or fox or other little creature got lost, he could wander around forever and never find his way home again.
But Batter was a smart squirrel, and he thought of a solution to the problem right away. He whisked a piece of paper out of his pocket, and on the front of it, he scribbled out a map, marking the path that led to his house. He rolled it up tightly and handed it to Whisk.
“Take this map,” he said, “and follow it carefully. It will lead you straight to my house, and then you won’t get lost.”
Whisk took the map and stuffed it into his pocket, then Whisk and Batter said goodbye to each other, and they each went home. The next day, when he was finished all his work, Whisk set out to go to Batter’s house. But he forgot all about the rolled up map he had stuffed into his pocket!
Whisk began making his way through the thick pine woods. The narrow trail snaked past tree after dark, solemn tree, and Whisk began to grow nervous. Although it was daytime, the needly boughs of the pine trees grew so closely together that the sun could hardly shine through. Because of this, the forest was nearly always quite dark. The trail was dark. Dark and silent, except for every now and then a rustle in the brush from some tiny animal. Every time this happened, Whisk jumped and whirled around. But he kept going. Hours passed and still, Whisk saw nothing familiar, nothing that looked anything like a young squirrel’s home with a playground in the back. Soon, Whisk the squirrel came to the end of the forest. The sun shone so brightly over the meadow outside of the trees that it hurt Whisk’s eyes making him squint. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found himself in the middle of a path that branched off in two directions. He had no idea where he was. He had no idea where to go.
Now, you may think it was a good thing that Whisk had come out of the dark, scary forest into the sunshine. But for Whisk, it was not a good thing. The quiet sheltered pine forest was the only thing Whisk had ever known; the wide open meadow frightened him. Besides, open meadows are dangerous places for any small animal. Any hawk soaring overhead can easily spot them and swoop down to catch them. Whisk was lost. He had come the wrong way, and now he was in a terribly dangerous place.
But then, Whisk remembered the crumpled, rolled up paper in his pocket—the map! Of course! How had he forgotten? Whisk pulled out the map. He studied it carefully. He found the place where he was, and he found the path to his friend’s house marked clearly in red. He began to walk again, but this time, he held the map vigilantly in front of him, and he made sure not to stray a single yard from that path traced out in red. In no time at all, he reached Batter’s house. Batter came out to meet him. All afternoon they had a wonderful time playing on Batter’s fantastic playground!
Whisk the squirrel was trying to get to his friend’s house. Just like Whisk, people all over the world are trying to get somewhere. But instead of simply trying to get to a friend’s house, people everywhere are trying to get to God. They want to go to Heaven and live forever. People have come up with all different ways they think they can get to God. There are Muslims and Buddhists, Catholics and Hindus, Christians—so many different religions, as we call them, to choose from. But which way is right? Which way leads to God?
The trouble now days is that most people will tell you that it doesn’t matter which religion you choose. They will tell you that every way is right, and that you can choose whatever you want. But that can’t be true. Think about Whisk. There was only one path that led to his friend’s house. If he took a different path, he might end up lost in the dark forest or wandering in a wide open meadow where a hawk might snatch him up. It was a good thing Whisk had a map to show him the right way!
In the same way, if we do not choose the right way to get to God, we will be lost. We will end up without Him in Hell. So what is the right way? How do we keep from getting lost?
The good news is, we have a Map to show us the way just like Whisk did. God has given us this Map—it is the Bible, God’s very own words to us. It shows us how we can come to Him and know Him. In the Bible, in the book of John chapter 14 and verse 6, Jesus said “ ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through Me.’” (Brackets mine). Do you see? Jesus is the way to God! He is the only way to God. Remember? You are a sinner. You have broken God’s laws by lying, hating, and disobeying your parents. You deserve to be punished in Hell for your sin. But Jesus, God as a man, died on a cross to take your punishment. He was punished instead of you! He was buried, but came alive again, destroying death! If you ask Him to, He will clean away your sin. You must trust Him to do this. Then you can be with God in Heaven when you die! And the only way to be with God in Heaven is to trust Jesus to clean away your sin. After you have decided to trust in Jesus, you must still use the Bible as a map. What I mean is that you must read the Bible. The Bible will tell you all about God so that you can learn to know Him better. It also tells you how to do what God wants you to do so you can obey God. It will keep you from turning away from God and sinning. And you must pray too. Pray that God will help you to do what is right and that He will help you understand the Bible.
Jesus is the only way to God, the only way to life. Every other way is false and leads only to death. Will you look at the Map, the Bible, and decide to go the right way? I hope you do!
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.