Is this a line from an old movie?

It’s the one day of the week I actually wanted to get up early because Saturday mornings meant a few hours of non-stop cartoons, usually followed by a tacky western B-movie.

I always thought it was funny how some of those old westerns were filmed. The poorer quality filming made the the cowboys and horses look odd the way they started and stopped with a jerk. And the story lines for those old westerns were so much alike it was almost as if they used the same script and just changed actors.

A common scene in the old westerns was having the good guy try to head off the bad guy “at the pass.” It was a last chance to turn back the bad guy before he could hurt someone or commit a crime.

I wonder if they got that part of the script from God.

Our Creator cares so much about us that He routinely gets out in front of us and tries to turn us back from going the wrong way. God often heads us off from committing sin and hurting ourselves or others.

The whole chapter of Numbers 22 is like an early B-movie. The character is Balaam, who seems intent on going the wrong way. Instead of riding a fast, sleek horse, he’s mounted on a slow, stubborn donkey. God tries to turn back Balaam by giving his donkey the ability to speak, and even by sending an angel to block his way.

The experience of Balaam is just one example of God working to head us off from our pursuit of sin, and to turn us in a direction that is good and safe for us, and brings glory to Him.

In our times, God usually doesn’t use a donkey to head us off (of course, He could!). Today, He guides us through the Holy Spirit, His Word, prayer, and others in our lives. Some of the methods may be different than those used with Balaam, but God is just as active in cutting us off “at the pass” and turning us toward Him.

Are you headed in a direction that brings glory to God, or is God trying to head you off and turn you away from a path you shouldn’t be on?

Scotty