"Whoever is not with me is against me."
-Jesus Christ
Legendary Delta blues singer-songwriter-guitarist, Robert Leroy Johnson, penned the following words in his 1936 classic, “Cross Road Blues:”
I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees.
Asked the Lord above, “Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please.”
The song later became a staple of Eric Clapton’s, where it was further popularized. Johnson’s early death put him in the legendary “27 Club” alongside the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Janis Joplin, just to name a few. And the details surrounding his death, or lack thereof, gave rise to a legendary story about the song’s origin.
As the story goes, Johnson goes to the intersection of two rural roads to catch a ride. The verses provide the following sequence; first, Johnson gets on his knees to ask for God’s help, then tries to “flag a ride,” and finally finds himself “sinking” down as the sun goes down. As the legend goes, Johnson chooses to dialogue with the only person who engaged him; the Devil. The Devil offers the bluesman great musical abilities and fame in exchange for his soul. Robert Johnson agrees to the deal, and the rest is history, or perhaps mythology.
Regardless of whether this story is fact or fiction, we all get the point. People have used the phrase “I’m at a crossroads” for centuries. It’s a figure of speech we use to describe a situation in which an important decision must be made. We intuitively know that the choice we make at the crossroads will either lead to success or failure, rapture, or regret.
I have found myself at the crossroads many times. Robert Frost so eloquently provided us this imagery in his poem “The Road Not Taken:”
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 didn’t say he had taken the right road. What he did say was that time will determine if he had taken the right road. Often life’s crossroads are not routine, they involve a crisis. Oswald Chambers puts it this way:
“Before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide, for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.” (From: My Utmost For His Highest)
Benjamin Franklin reminds us that crossroads are also frequent:
“We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make. Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not.” (From: The Art of Virtue)
Crossroads are the intersections of life that require us to make a choice; a crisis that can be our new beginning. Our crossroads are an opportunity to choose Christ or to go it alone. Jesus made it clear that we can choose only one road; “Whoever is not with me is against me (Mt. 12:30).”
When we sigh in ages hence, and look back on the path we chose, will we sigh from the pains of our path or the pleasure of our passage? You and I will choose our road based on what we believe, and time will reveal the quality of our choices. At what crossroad are you currently standing? Choose correctly; choose Christ. It will make all the difference.
Play to win this week in the game that really counts!