Caravans

Historically, caravans have traveled across Asia and parts of Africa, centuries before Christ. They consisted primarily of merchants joining together to make difficult journeys more secure, under the leadership of a hired caravan leader. Caravans, successful caravans, often included as many as one thousand to five thousand camels. Caravans of this size consisted of travelers, artisans, slaves, guides, scouts an so on - a very diverse group.

The success of a caravan depended on many things. First, it required a skilled leader, a man capable of knowing how, when and where to travel. Secondly, it required numbers. The larger the caravan, the more difficult it was to raid. However, a hasty decision to select a leader, without testing his character, or background, could prove deadly to the caravan.

Our lives are similar to this illustration. Our life is the proverbial road across the desert, we must travel. Our road, just as those in a caravan requires a leader to follow. Christ, or the devil. Good or bad. Additionally, we are subject to marauders, bandits and thieves who lay in wait for us to come along. For some, who walk the road alone, this is a dangerous place but for others, who choose their guide wisely, and seek out others looking to travel together, the journey, though hard, may prove to be a place of refuge in the barren places.

Having people around us who encourage us, support us and are there for us, as we are for them, is without a question a better way to live. It takes time, it takes work, and it demands good character, but when we seek out one another, and place them in our caravan, we begin to reap the benefits spoken about in scripture. This is the narrow road. And while it may be narrow and less traveled, it does not have to be lonely.

Psalms 37:23-29 - The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.