Pathways

"14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Turn away from it and pass on.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day."

 

~ Proverbs 4:14-18 

Alot more of us need to sit at the feet of this teacher and lend our ear to his wise words.

We understand that when the writer speaks of the path of the wicked he means their course of life, their sinful character, and the actions that follow. But think about it, at the time that Solomon wrote there was literally a path to the wicked.

How could you go lie in wait to ambush someone (1:11) or go to the house of the harlot (5:8) unless you physically walked on a path to go meet up with them. You had to physically get up, go outside, and walk to the door of the harlot's house. There was actually effort involved in entering the path of the wicked.

We need Solomon's words even more today. What do I mean? I mean it is all too easy, convenient, and anonymous to enter the wicked path today. Now, every IP address is a path to folly and every sort of evil. A step only takes the press of a button, a single click of a mouse. The path of the wicked is all around us, floating in the cloud, choking and blurring our way.

Without stepping foot in the dusty square of Sodom, we find ourselves like righteous Lot, who was oppressed by his generation, though I want to have a different ending to the story of my life than his.

Here's the deal. I don't think that we will do much shining if we are constantly walking in the fog of spiritual confusion that characterizes our modern life. What is  the answer?

We need to dive deep into the truths of God's word and let it's living waters flow over our souls. We need to make the hard climb up to the heights of older theological stalwarts and let them show us the vast panoramas of God's glory. We need to walk the old paths through the sun dappled meadows of righteousness.
 

Then our minds will be clear, our path will be evident, and we will shine.
 

Eiger Jungfrau Switzerland