#DailyDevotion There Are Two Paths To Walk On, Choose The LORD’s

Prov. 4:10-23 ¹⁰Listen, my son, accept what I say, and you’ll live many years. ¹¹I have taught you wisdom’s way and led you in the right paths. ¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; even if you run, you won’t fall. ¹³Cling to discipline and don’t let it go; keep it because it means your life. ¹⁴Don’t go in the way of the wicked or walk in the path of evil people. ¹⁵Keep away from it, don’t walk on it, turn away from it, and pass on. ¹⁶For they can’t sleep unless they do wrong; they’re robbed of their sleep unless they bring people down. ¹⁷They eat food gotten by doing wrong and drink wine taken by violence. ¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the morning light that gets brighter until it has reached the brightest of the day. ¹⁹ The way of the wicked is completely dark, so they don’t know what they stumble over.

There are things you can do that lead to a happy, long, and full life. Kids are unfortunately sometimes rebellious and don’t listen to their parents wisdom. Old Solomon here is trying to pass down some wisdom to us. It’s never to late to get off the road we’re on and get on the right road to start having a better life. He has for three chapters now presented wisdom’s way and the right paths. You may want to go back and read some of it. The sum of it can be said so far, seek wisdom, obey the covenant and trust in the LORD.

If you do these things your steps will not be hindered and when you run you won’t fall, metaphorically speaking. Indeed the LORD told the Israelites if they listen and do all he told them the nations would consider them a wise and just nation. (Deut 4) When you go about your life trusting the LORD and you are obeying his commands, you are not building any roadblocks and hindrances in your life. When you run across any, it is because others are not walking on the same path as you.

So we have a warning to not go the way of the wicked or evil people. He is emphatic to “Keep away from it, don’t walk on it, turn away from it, and pass on.” Would that I would have listened to this in my youth. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and problems later in life. You be wiser. But their ways look so fun. It looks and seems easier at first. They indeed try to entice you to their way of life. They will make fun of you as the grasshopper did the ants. They make it look and sound so good. You, however, are not shown and pointed out the costs of their life choices. They get upset that if you don’t join them and will call you names which indeed should be words of honor like “innocent, virgin, goody too shoes” and well other things to make you feel embarrassed that you are, well, actually good.

Following the words of our LORD Jesus Christ and his words through his apostles is the true light. It gets brighter the longer you walk on his path as he is the Light of the World. They will try to convince you it is darkness. “God just is keeping things back from you and doesn’t want you to have fun!” they will shout. But their way is utter darkness. They don’t even know what they are stumbling over is their own dead body. Trusting in Jesus and obeying his voice ends up being the easier, softer way even when it seems we drudgingly walking it as we look back.

Heavenly Father, grant us wise and trusting hearts that take heed to your word, trust it and do it so we may walk in the light of your Son Jesus Christ and live long, good lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.