Recently I’ve been reflecting on our journey through this life. I thought about the numerous journeys I’ve made in my life, many of them up and down Interstate 35 in Texas. My wife and I graduated from Concordia Lutheran College in Austin in 1978. I lived in Dallas and drove down I-35 to get here. While we lived in Sherman, Texas, I continued to drive up and down I-35 for various meetings and to take and visit my three daughters when they attended Concordia.

Something I have become very familiar with through all those trips are mile markers, those sequentially numbered green rectangular signs that go from one end of the Interstate to the other. The numbers get smaller as you go from North to South. I-35 starts at #510 up north of Gainesville and ends with #0 down at the Mexico Border.

I initially became familiar with MILE MARKERS in college because of the Citizens Band Radio. I know that dates me, but it is a reality. In a world where everyone has a cell phone, the idea of people having radios in their vehicles to communicate seems kind of odd. Often times you would talk to complete strangers over those airwaves. It gave you some companionship and something to do when you were traveling alone. It helped you keep up with people traveling with you in other vehicles. It was fun to listen to the truckers banter with each other. And there were “Smokey Reports.” People would pass along the locations of Highway Patrolmen on the off chance that someone might be exceeding the national speed limit of 55 MPH. That information was given by naming the mile marker number.

I still notice the mile markers when I travel. Many of them slip by unnoticed, but there are certain ones I look for and pay attention to:

• 399 – was the exit for Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie.
• 368 – Hillsboro, near the I-35E and I-35W split.
• 353 – Time to pull over at the Little Czech Bakery in West.
• 236 – 38 ½ street in Austin, the exit to slide onto the FORMER campus of Concordia

We all travel different roads through our lives and have different milestones, but sometimes they intersect. You make friends, and then you go down different paths. Yet the journey continues.

As you travel toward and reach significant milestone in your life, remember that Jesus is an important part of your journey. He is with you every step of the way, not just on the highlight reel. Something so profound that you can never fully understand it, yet so simple is  summed up perfectly in one of the first songs you may have learned: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

On your journey, you will sometimes take a wrong turn or get off the path. There will be signs that tell you that as well. That is when it becomes even more important to focus on Jesus and all He has done for you. Greater love has never been nor will ever be shown to you than the love of God in Christ: His incarnation, His life of perfection, His willing sacrifice to redeem you from sin, His resurrection to proclaim victory over death. You have heard that message. Hopefully you have taken it to heart and put your faith in Jesus. If so, on your journey, the God of peace will be with you.