(NOTE: This is the last in the two-year Word Traveler series of podcasts. The producers of Word Traveler sincerly hope you have enjoyed the teaching from the Bible. Please go back and listen to any one of the 313 podcasts any time you wish.)

Do you believe “the road to hell is paved with good intentions?” I don’t. It’s not a Bible saying. Nobody knows how this phrase evolved into popular language.[1] Many people dislike the idea of “good intentions” especially if they’re linked to inaction. But I think good intentions matter.

The problem of undocumented immigrants has been around for a long time. King Solomon dealt decisively with foreigners in Israel about three thousand years ago. He counted and documented them, legalized them, and gave them jobs. He found 153,600 aliens in the land so he made 70,000 of them common laborers. 80,000 became stone cutters, and 3,600 worked as foremen over the other 150,000 at the Temple construction project in Jerusalem.

This world is not my permanent home or possession. I will not forever keep my house, my clothes, or even my family. All of these precious things and people will be stripped away from me one day. I cannot stop the shadow of my life from shifting me towards its final destination. I have “no hope or expectation of remaining” here.