Over the weekend we found some old home videos and started watching them. In one of them we filmed in the woods near the house where I grew up. Suddenly I could see the trail we made through them. I remembered clearly how that trail was. About a quarter mile back it split into two directions. To the left, it went back about another half mile and dead ended into a barbed wire fence with a no trespassing sign. To the right, we could go almost a mile back around the neighborhood. If you followed it far enough, there was a creek that led to an old fishing hole my buddy and I loved to go to. Whoever we veered off the trail, it was easy to get lost, but all we had to do was find the trail and we could get back home.
Proverbs 2 talks about two trails we come across in life. One path, which is a way taken so much it becomes a rut like a trail, leads to life and away from the path that leads to evil. Verses 12 – 19 describe the path God is trying to keep us from going down. It describes it as dark, evil and crooked. It is lined with temptation to lead you to death. Verse 20 says, “So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character], And keep to the paths of the righteous” (AMP). It’s great advice for all of us to stay on the trail that is full of integrity, courage and honorable character because the other trail is always beckoning us to go down it.
Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is; then walk in it, And you will find rest for your souls.’” We’re all constantly faced with this choice. Should we go down a trail that leads to a dead end or down one that leads to life? God has always given us the choice, but He also tells us to choose life and to take the trail that is good. If you’ve wandered off the trail or have meandered down the wrong one, God’s offer still stands. It’s a matter of repentance, turning around, to get back on the trail that leads to His blessings. Use His Word as a lamp for your feet and a light to your trail and take it one step at a time.
Photo by Johannes Andersson on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 