From Crooked Street to Glory Avenue

When I was a young lad in my early, adolescent years, I remember sitting on an old, wooden pew listening to my dad play his Martin guitar as he sang to a small congregation of people at the church we attended.

One of the songs he loved to sing came to mind the other day of which I was surprised that I remembered the words.  The lyrics found their way to my tongue and I began to sing the chorus.

I cannot recall the title or verses, but the chorus goes something like this.  “I’m glad I moved from Crooked Street to Glory Avenue.  No mortgage on our property, the taxes never come due.  The sun is always shining bright and Mondays never blue.  I’m glad I moved from Crooked Street to Glory Avenue.”

Actually, these few words in the chorus somewhat encapsulate what the Born-again experience holds in store for those that choose to move from Crooked Street where Satan is landlord, to live on Glory Avenue where Jesus abides.

When I lived on Crooked Street, my futile efforts to find happiness in things of the world was relentless and unproductive.  Successes in life were limited as were the ventures I pursued in trying to unearth contentment.  Obtaining peace of mind was fruitless.  Blinded, haphazard experimentation with the corruptness around me proved ineffective in my quest for tranquility; a waste of expelled energy. 

At the end of each day my winding journey availed little with respect to finding self-worth and self-respect.  Quality relationships and feeling a sense of true satisfaction within me could not be found.  Things that occupied my thinking failed to give purpose and fulfillment. 

Old habits kept surfacing as did the nature of my restless personality, which was drowning in a cesspool of covetous living.  As an adult, my unsavory past was one of missed connections and cancelled flights, as it were; confusion that was coupled with heartache; nothing to count on, because I was repeating the same mistakes over and over again, which brought frustration without hope.

Everything I tried failed to translate into true gratification.  It was at this point in my confusion that it seemed I could hear someone knocking at my hearts door.  It was as if I heard the knocker calling my name and saying, “I see you’re in an awful fix, I’ll tell you what to do; I’d move clear off of Crooked Street to Glory Avenue.”

Out of frustration and a sense of “I’ll try anything,” I bowed my knee; repented of my sins and found what I was searching for.  Peace availed itself.  The Holy Spirit immediately relocated me to the block where the rest of my newly acquired family lived—Glory Avenue.

In the short amount of time that it took to pray these words, “Forgive me of my sins” is how long it took God to move me to new surroundings and a new beginning in Christ Jesus.  I became part of the family of God; washed in the fountain of His holiness, and cleansed from sin through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.

(Revelation 3:20), “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

I’m glad I moved from Crooked Street to Glory Avenue.  I now have a hope and a future.  The peace that was unattainable on Crooked Street is ever present on Glory Avenue.  I have no regrets, because I found Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

(Jeremiah 29:11), “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd