One day, looking at him through my seven-year-old eyes, I asked him what was the secret to his wonderful life and his success. He knelt down to my level and told me, “ It’s making the right choices.”
“ What do you mean? “ I queried.
“ Life is all about choices, you have to make the right ones. Prisons are full of people who made bad choices.”
“ But how do you know? “
“ Well, no one lives a perfect life but I use a roadmap to help me.”
“ A roadmap?”
“ Yes, my most precious possession. I look at it daily, I read it and study it. I have even memorized parts of it. Then it’s there in my mind and at times I can recall it in order to make good decisions. I rely on it mainly to make major decisions and not so much the minor ones, like what clothes to wear for the day. Usually there are multiple paths to take and you must choose only one. I not only want to choose a good one but I want to choose the very best one. Does that make sense?”
“ Absolutely, but isn’t it hard trusting something other than yourself? “
“ It was at first, but after I saw the good results it gave me it became much easier. I look at it now as a wise, old friend that wants to help me go through this life.”
“Well Grandad, when did you start using this road map? “
“ Oh, I was about your age, yeah, just about your age. Hey, you’re having a birthday next week. Would you like me to get you one like mine?”
“ Would you? Yes, please. I would love it. Thank you so much.”
Well, Granddad got sick and had to enter the hospital, not realizing he would not leave there alive. He missed my birthday party, but he mailed me my present. I was very anxious to open it when I saw I had received a package from him. However, I was somewhat confused when I opened the gift and didn’t realize its full value until years later.
I was anticipating something that looked like a treasure map on a weathered parchment. I was not expecting to find a beautiful, leather bound Bible.