Treading The Death Track.

Many years ago, when the upper peninsula of Michigan was an almost unbroken wilderness, two men set out to reach a new mining camp. From the straits of Mackinaw they hastened on in a westward direction, hoping to reach their destination before the heavy snows set in. One bright winter morning they started on what they hoped was the last stage of their journey. A flurry of snow during the preceding night had almost obliterated the faint track made by former travelers, but they confidently went forward, believing themselves quite capable of keeping the right direction. As the day wore on, the woods through which they journeyed grew more dense, until they could not see the sun, which hitherto had been their guide. Still, they pressed on in what they believed to be a westward course, choosing the places where the underbrush was crushed as evidence that others had passed that way before.

Imagine their astonishment later on to find that they were apparently not alone on their journey, for there were before them the fresh tracks in the snow of at least two others. Reassured by this, they hurried on, hoping to overtake them, and were amazed, still later, to find others had joined the travelers. This they looked upon as a sure token that they were on the right way, and that the camp was near. As they pressed on they were surprised by the appearance of an Indian, who proved to be the mail carrier of the district, standing by the side of a huge tree only a few feet from them. Involuntarily their hands went to their firearms, but without moving from his position the Indian grunted out in broken English: “WHITE MAN LOST!” This they were ready to indignantly deny, but the Indian, pointing to the tracks, replied: “White man lost; he go ’round and ’round.” They were treading what has been termed “the death track,” and that explained the added footprints—they were their own, for they had been walking in a circle!

It is not difficult to perceive the danger these men were in—an unknown country, a trackless wild, without a guide, and treading the hopeless round of the “death track.” But how many lost souls are like them! Being desirous of going to Heaven, but not taking their directions from the one infallible guide-book, the Bible, they are also going their own way. They are sincere, but wrong! The Scripture says: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25). They are alas, TREADING THE DEATH TRACK.

Should the reader be thus plodding away in a round of religious duty, we would say to you, as the Indian to the travelers: “You are lost; you are going ’round and ’round!” We would call you to halt, and warn you that to go on as you are is to perish. No amount of zeal will alter the solemn condition; you are helplessly lost! But there is One who stands ready not only to save, but to guide you safely home. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish” (John 3:16). To save you, He had to die; but He is now risen, and thus, as a living Savior for lost sinners, God proclaims Him to you for your acceptance. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name” (John 1:12).