One Way Out

February 7

No Other Way Out of Town

Wabush, a town in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada, was completely isolated for most of its existence. But finally a road was cut through the wilderness to reach it. Wabush now has one road leading into it, and thus, only on one road leading out. If someone would travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, there is only way he or she could leave —- by turning around.

Each of us, by birth, arrives in a town called Sin. As in Wabush, there is only one way out—a road built by God himself. But in order to take that road, one must first turn around. That complete about-face is what the Bible calls repentance, and without it, there’s no way out of town.—Brian Weatherdon


“And a man shall be as your shelter from the wind, and a covering from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,” Isaiah 32:2.

The town of Sin is a tumultuous place. It may not seem to be so initially. We grow up in Sin and we gradually acclimate ourselves to its weather. We begin with a little shower of deception and proceed to a blizzard of lies; we harbor a bit of greed and it becomes an avalanche of conspicuous consumption.

Neither do we have fair weather in our personal relationships. Intimate interpersonal relationships are often of very short duration, for they are typical of stormy weather—intense but brief.

The only deliverance we can hope to obtain from the inclemency of life in Sin is our escape via the only road that leads away—and that route is Jesus who says of Himself, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” John 14:6. If we want to move beyond the constraints of Sin, Jesus is our only way out.

When we discover that living in Sin is destructive to every aspect of our lives, when we weary of its blustery grasp upon our personhood, when we desire to dwell in the “peace that passes understanding that keeps our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:7, then we will traverse the one road that leads out of Sin; we will follow Jesus.

We will become like others who have lived in Sin, others like the Apostle Paul who said in I Corinthians 11:1, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” We will evidence to the unfortunate residents of Sin that there is a way out, that there is an escape from everything that binds us to depravity.

We will find our shelter from the storm in the One who leads us away from the tumultuous abode of Sin. Let us follow Him; let us follow Jesus who is the way out.