Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 4:25
We are still in Proverbs chapter 4, from verse 25, a passage entitled watch where you are going,
The passion translation puts it like this:
Watch Where You’re Going
Set your gaze on the path before you.
With fixed purpose, looking straight ahead,
ignore life’s distractions.
Watch where you’re going!
Stick to the path of truth,
and the road will be safe and smooth before you.
Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked for even a moment
or take the detour that leads to darkness.
I remember walking up Ben Nevis a few years ago. You couldn’t really call it climbing because there was a path up most of the way. I was feeling rubbish because I had been sick the night before and it was only my determination that kept me going. About half way up the terrain became very stony, it was like a large area of loose stone you had to cross. I suppose you would call it scree, every footstep had to be measured, the path snaked left and right up ahead and if you moved of the path it you were up to your ankles in loose stone. I saw some other people taking a shortcut and tried to cut a corner myself and nearly ended up on by hands and knees, trying to scramble up it. Really tough going when you went off the path. Every so often I stopped for a rest and looked ahead at the path and thought about the way ahead.
This part of proverbs put me in mind of that tortuous climb. The path in view is the path of truth—stick to the path of truth. Fix your mind on it, Be determined to follow it, keep your footsteps measured, the path is the one God would have you follow, don’t be distracted by life, by shortcuts, by other people that say, come this way, it is easier. It might look easier but you could end up on your knees.
When you feel tempted to deviate from that path. Just stop and think about it. Is that way really safe? Think about it, stick to God’s path. This passage precedes chapter 5 which is a warning against adultery. Temptation might seem sweet but when we put our own knowledge and wisdom before Gods, we are on the path that leads to darkness. So the word for today is ‘watch where you are going’.
