A Path Forward

“He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate.” — Ezekiel 46:9b

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
—Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken (1916) 
Full Poem

In his poem “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost provides us with the poetic anthem of individualism. One of the most quoted stanzas from a poem in history. Complete with posters, calendars, screen savers and more to challenge us not to follow the path of the crowd, but choose the path less travelled. The only problem is that’s not what the poem says in context.

The poem was written to Frost’s English friend Edward Thomas. Frost stayed in England for a time and would regularly walk in the woods with Thomas. When they came to forks in the trail, they would debate which way they should take. Inevitably, no matter what path they took, Thomas would bemoan they should have taken the other path. It undoubtedly would have been more beautiful and exciting.

Frost wrote the poem to poke fun at his friend. In reality, neither path in the poem is any better than the other. Frost takes the juxtaposition of his friend in the conclusion of the poem by saying, “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.” Frost in his “sigh” acknowledges the mourning of lost knowledge at what lies down the other path, but then turns his friend’s approach on its head and justifies the path he has taken.

The poem is not about individuality. It is about how we reflect on our path. Do we regret the paths we didn’t take? Or do we justify the paths we do? And, have we ever even considered the path we are on?

In Ezekiel chapters 40-48, the prophet is provided a vision of God’s ideal temple. Interpreted in many ways, it is to me symbolic of the spiritual temple that Christ established as the church. In Ezekiel 46, the vision deals with the manner in which followers should worship God. In verse 9 it reads, “But when the people of the land come before the Lord…He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate.”

In other words, something is supposed to change when you come into the presence of the Lord. You are not to return to your same old path. You have a new path going forward.

Several times in the Bible, people are told not to return by the path they came. In Matthew 2:12 the Magi (Wise Men) were divinely warned in a dream not to return the same way, but to go home another way. In 1 Kings 13:17, the old prophet is told to deliver his message, but don’t commune with the people, “nor return by going the way you came.”

What is consistent about all these verses is God’s Word should create change. We can’t grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and continue walking the way we always walked. Grace should change you. It should overwhelm you. It should open the gate to a path forward in Christ. If it doesn’t, you don’t understand grace. You don’t understand life in Christ.

However, don’t succumb to the temptation of becoming path inspectors. We often want to look at the path someone has traversed to measure their faith. We equally want to evaluate our own path for the same reason. The end result of this effort is to become the joke in Frost’s poem that justifies the path we’ve taken or bemoans the path not taken like his friend Thomas. The path is irrelevant. It is a relationship with Christ that creates change. And everyday there is a path forward. You can’t go back. You can only go forward.

Again, the path is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the next step. “Your word is a lamp to my feet / And a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Notice the path is not what makes the difference. It is the light. It is meeting God in His Word that changes us. It is when His Word is lived out through our life our path is changed.

What is God’s direction for your life? You can’t go back. Don’t bemoan the paths you’ve missed. Don’t justify the ones you’ve taken. Whatever path you are on today, stop and come into the presence of the Lord. Let His word be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Allow Him to live through your life. Then, go forward! Trust the Lord to guide your steps. The path doesn’t make a difference unless we get stuck returning to the paths of our past.

Don’t go back the way you came. Move forward. The Lord is the Light. And He will light the path forward if we will trust Him.

© 2026 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Discovery: The Holy Grail & Ark of the Covenant

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
— Jeremiah 33:3

Rumors abound and excitement is growing for potentially the greatest discovery of all time. In a remote, undisclosed desert region a monumental discovery has been made. For the first time, in our lifetime at least, light has pierced through the dirt and muck into a cave which many believe to be the hiding place of both the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant! Questions remain whether or not this discovery will ever find its way into the public.

As a reminder to our readers:

- The Holy Grail is a cup/chalice long believed to only exist in legend. It was the cup Jesus utilized for communion at the last supper and then was also claimed to have caught His blood at the crucifixion. It has long been sought as a source of eternal life for anyone who drinks from its rim.

- The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred chest described in the Bible. A wooden chest covered in gold. It held the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s budding rod and a jar of manna from the Exodus. The Ark disappeared from the written record during the Babylonian conquest of Israel in 586 BC.

Imagine the impact on history that would result from the discovery of both these items together in the same cave. Now consider, we are on the precipice of experiencing that very reality. How will the world change? How will people’s faith be impacted? Would it truly change anything?

It is entirely up to you!

The most remote, desert region in the world is often the heart of a person. All of us were lost and separated from God. We were enemies and spiritually dead, until the Light of Christ broke through the dirt and muck. It washed away our sins and gave us life.

We became the Holy Grail! We are called into communion with Christ. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) We have redemption and forgiveness through His blood. (Ephesians 1:7) It is eternal life: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:55)

Are we not the Ark of the Covenant? With Christ in us, we are able to say with Job, “When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10) We have His law written in our hearts and minds by His covenant (Hebrews 8:10). We are Aaron’s budding rod: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) We are partakers of the manna—Bread of Life (John 6:35).

We do not need to discover objects like the Ark of the Covenant or the mythical Holy Grail. Objects are dead. They may glimmer and shine for a time, but they rust, decay and get lost in the end. We are in need of life!

We once were no more than an object; just as dead, decaying and lost. However, our Savior stepped in. His light flooded the cave. Life was born in us and we are dead no more. As Ezekiel prophesied, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

We were called to be the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. That discovery truly changes history and eternity. How tragic if we keep those precious treasures buried away in the cave of our lives. They are meant to be seen. They are meant to lead. They are meant to be the life we experience everyday, not an insurance policy for when we die. Every aspect is about life: communion, redemption, forgiveness, eternal life, blood of life and bread of life. We are the dead rod, grafted into Christ and now budding with new life. We are the branches and meant to bear fruit because God’s law of liberty is written in our hearts and minds! (James 1:25)

I am challenged to stop being a cave dweller, hiding away my precious treasures. I’m challenged to bring them forth and stand as a city on a hill; a light before all men. Yet, that challenge is not by doing anything other than showing people the treasure of Christ in my life. For without Him, I can do nothing! I am the vessel, He is the LIFE!

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Plausible Deniability

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”
—Romans 2:1

Parenting is frustrating at times. You may think very young children are concrete thinkers. However, I am convinced one of the earliest concepts we learn as a child is the most abstract concept imaginable: plausible deniability. I believe it is almost innate to humanity.

There you are looking at your toddler covered from head to toe in chocolate. On the floor next to them is the remnant of a chocolate cake that has been devoured. So you ask them, “Did you eat the cake?” They stare at you as if you asked them if they were Satan himself, then respond with, “No” and a stare.

“Well, then,” you ask, “who ate the cake?” Shoulder shrug. Tears of hurt because you don’t believe them. That questioning look of “how could you accuse me”… plausible deniability. You don’t have to teach it. Every child does it a some point, and most adults perfect it!

You don’t have to teach a child that they don’t know everything. Yet, we are logical creatures and quickly figure out if I don’t know everything, then neither do you. Plausible deniability as a legal defense is built on this conundrum. We don’t have to prove we didn’t do something, we just have to prove you can’t prove that I did.

We’ve all been lied to by people we love. We have all lied to the people we love. And most of those lies hinged on plausible deniability. Not only is it a hallmark of our judicial system (you have to prove something “beyond a reasonable doubt”), it is interwoven into the fabric of our society.

Who hasn’t let a boss think something was true, even though it wasn’t, because it benefited ourselves? Yes, that is plausible deniability. If she finds out the truth, “Well, I never said anything, I just assumed you knew.”

How often do we watch movies and shows where there is risqué behavior, nudity, obscene content…and the list goes on…then railed against the movie industry for making such “trash”. Yet, we watched it. Often got a thrill from it. But also railed against it. “I shouldn’t have to put up with trash like that to watch a show,” we say, and then cue up another one.

We often walk with one hand in the world and the other in eternity. Then we act like the siblings fighting in the back seat of the car on a long trip. “Mom, he won’t stop touching me!” We sit there with our finger a hairsbreadth away from their nose and say, “I’m not touching them!”

This is not a judgment piece. It is a reality check. Plausible deniability is so much a part of our world we often fall into the trap of thinking God is no different than us. Maybe we can use it as a defense. Then, we wonder why our lives do not change or improve.

God gets it, and declares it to be wrong. In Romans 2:1, we are informed that we are “inexcusable”. Unlike our parents, God is omniscient. He knows everything. He watched us eat the cake. Lie to our loved ones. Deceive our boss. Enjoy the lusts of the flesh. He saw it all!

Praise be to God, He also took it all to the cross! He forgave us. And, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10;10)

At that point the court of inquiry changed. It was no longer a trial of our deeds. It became a path for our life. The focused was changed from what we have done, to what we are going to do. Plausible deniability ceased to be a shield behind which we can hide, because the focus was on what we are going to do, not what we have done. The standard is clear, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men…” (Colossians 3:23). It is proactive, not reactive.

I’m challenged this week to stop trying to justify my actions. Rather, I’m challenged to focus on what is to come and to do it heartily as unto the Lord. I ate the cake. I lied. I deceived. I followed the lust of the flesh. But what does that have to do with the choice before me now? It was all in Christ on the cross. Now, I only have a choice. Will I choose the Lord in this moment? Will I take the next step heartily as unto the Lord?

NOTE: I’m learning that when you are focused on each step being taken unto the Lord, the missteps you’ve taken in the past do not haunt you as much. Something to think about.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Hello, My Ragtime Friend

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
— 1 Timothy 6:6

As I write, today is the 70th anniversary of the epic release of the Merrie Melodies “One Froggy Evening.” Hearing that on the radio this morning I was taken back to my childhood (reruns) of this memorable cartoon. Epic in nature as it stands as one of the top 5 all-time best cartoons, and it’s main character became a mascot for the The WB.

The cartoon stars Michigan J. Frog. Complete with top hat and cane, he sings ragtime, Tin Pan Alley hits and other songs from the late 19th to early 20th century. He was found hidden in a time capsule from 1892 by a construction worker on a demolition crew. He immediately breaks into song and dance with the hit, “Hello, My Baby.”

Watching the incredible sight of this frog dancing and singing, “Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gal,” the construction worker is overwhelmed with thoughts of fortune with this precious find. He sneaks off with the frog and sets about to make his fortune. He eventually rents a theater to rake in the money. No one comes. He offers free admission. No one comes. He offers free beer, and the crowds rush in only to hear the frog croak.

Apparently, the frog will perform for no one except the construction worker. Now broke and insane, the construction worker sees a new building site and sneaks the frog into the time capsule at the cornerstone. Fast forward to 2056, and the building is being demolished. The frog is found by another construction worker. The frog performs and off goes the new construction worker dreaming of his coming fortune.

Don’t read too much into this as it is an analogy to a cartoon with a singing and dancing frog that is over 150 years old. Yet, I vividly remember seeing this cartoon. And the moral of the story is clear: When we are blessed with a precious gift and try to leverage it for worldly wealth, we lose both. Croak!

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, is advising him how to properly shepherd the church. He tells him (and us) in 1 Timothy 6:3-6, “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud… useless wrangling of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”

In Christ, we have found a precious treasure way beyond the abilities of a singing, dancing frog. Yet, how often do we seek to leverage that new found gift for worldly gain. I can not tell you how many times I have had people say, “I tried Christianity. It just doesn’t work for me!”

No! It doesn’t. Christianity was not meant to work for you! It is about Christ, not you. Christianity was meant to work IN YOU. It is about Christ working in your life, not a grand show of your life. There is no doubt Christ desires to work in and through your life with every step you take and every situation you face. However, Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

As our verse today reads, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” Christianity is about eternity before it is about today. It is about spiritual wealth rather than wealth for the moment.

My ragtime friend, or should I say, my fellow ragamuffin; I do not discount the trials and tribulations of your life. Neither does the Lord. However contentment is found in understanding who you are in Christ and who He has made you to be in any circumstance.

The show is not for the world. It is for your contentment. As Zephaniah 3:17 states, “The Lord your God in your midst, / The Might One, will save; / He will rejoice over your with gladness, / He will quiet you with His love, / He will rejoice over you with singing.” God rejoices over you with singing!

Godliness is not a path to success in the world. Godliness is the applause to the song the Lord sings in your life. “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Do You Want To Be Made Well?

“Do you want to be made well?”
— John 5:6

Jesus approached the pool of Bethesda and saw a man crippled for 38 years lying there. He approached him and asked a startling question, “Do you want to be made well?” Even more startling is the man’s answer, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.” Notice he didn’t just say, “YES!”

His response was that of a victim. He was crippled for 38 years. The pool of Bethesda was said to have an angel who would periodically stir the waters and the first person to step into them when stirred would be healed. The man waited day by day, inches away from a cure he could not acquire. Yet, when asked if he wanted to be made well, he explained why he couldn’t.

His response was completely dictated by what he could and couldn’t do. It didn’t take into account what Jesus could do. He didn’t know who Jesus was, nor could he know what He could do.

I’ve always found this passage to be profound. It is often the nature of conversation when Christians are challenged to walk in victory, freedom and godliness. We don’t just say yes. We share the reasons that hold us back. We offer excuses as to why we can’t be THAT person right now, because of what we think we can or can’t do. We fail to realize we ARE THAT PERSON, because of what Jesus has done. We are the children of God clothed in righteousness.

We often act like the peasant in Søren Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death who came to the Capital loaded with a new found fortune “…and had made so much money that he could buy himself a pair of shoes and stockings and still had enough left over to get drunk on—it is related that as he was trying in his drunken state to find his way home he lay down in the middle of the highway and fell asleep. Then along came a wagon, and the driver shouted to him to move or he would run over his legs. Then the drunken peasant awoke, looked at his legs, and since by reason of the shoes and stockings he didn’t recognize them, he said to the driver, ‘Drive on, they are not my legs.’”

How often do we cut ourselves off at the knees because we fail to comprehend who we are in Christ? How acclimated we are to misery, woe, failings and grief that we choose to wallow in them rather than wake up to our new wardrobe. How much more comfortable it is to walk in the drunken stupor of the world, than to adjust our eyes to light unto our path.

Maybe you can’t relate. I, on the other hand, have spent far too many days wallowing in excuses as to why I can’t change, rather than embracing the change that Christ has worked in my life. It begs the question; do I want to be made well?

The man in Bethesda didn’t even know who had healed him. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” Much worse is the person who has been made well and yet continues to live in their weakness and degradation.

I certainly know who has healed me. Yet, I also struggle with the comfort of being a victim. It is hard to let go of the life, habits and image I’ve created (even when it is negative). Being able to lay the blame somewhere else. Blame the world, society, actions of others and countless other excuses as to why I can’t change. Still, the question remains, do I want to be made well?

We have been given a fortune beyond measure. We have acquired a new wardrobe. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) The only questioned that remains is will we continue in the drunkenness of the world unable to recognize the new creation we are? Or will we walk in Christ trusting Him to live through our lives—day by day, moment by moment?

We can not be made well by remaining who we are. We have to change. We have to pick up the mat we have laid down on and go home—to our Lord. Only He can work change in our life.

Do you want to be made well?

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.