By Pastor Scott
Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:26-27 NKJV)
As we are now into the second week of lockdown, I can personally feel a growing frustration about being isolated. I just want to get out and about and get going! But today while reading Proverbs 4 these verses spoke to me.
Now is a better time than ever to listen to these words from Solomon and assess where we are at in our lives. One thing I know is that the world is going to be a drastically different place in the coming months. 2020 really didn’t turn out how I was expecting. The question is, where do we want to be in our Christian walks? Do we want to be a messenger of hope in the times we live? That’s our job. I personally sense a wake-up call for Christians everywhere.
Today I want to mention four points about the verses above. But before we do let me share a quote about the purpose of Proverbs which I think provides a good summary of these verses we are looking at:
“Proverbs provides both a goal and route. The goal is successful living and the route is the way of wisdom” (Robert L. Alden)
Let’s be wise and intentional in our direction moving forward.
1) Firstly, Ponder the path of your feet.
Ask yourself: Are you where Jesus wants you to be?
Would Jesus be saying right now: “Well done good and faithful servant”
The apostle Paul encourages the Ephesian church:
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17 NKJV)
2) Secondly, Establish your ways.
Read Ephesians 5:17 again. The exhortation to ‘Establish your ways’ in Proverbs should tie into the importance of understanding ‘what the will of the Lord is’.
Prayerfully consider what His ways are for you and make sure you then ‘ESTABLISH’ those ways. Build upon them. Purpose to walk in them.
Proverbs 4:12 has famously being translated:
“as thou goest, step by step I will open up the way before thee”.
So, in other words: God guides people when they are moving forward for Him.
Think about it like this: A ship must be in motion before the skipper can steer it.
The same is true of us; God guides us when we are in motion for Him.
3) Thirdly, don’t get distracted from God’s ways for you. (v27)
It’s easy to place other things in the places God should have priority.
I find this to be true in our morning family devotions. If we are not careful, other things will and often do get in the way of it happening.
4) And lastly, remove any sin in your life.
Pray about it, identify it, flee it!
In summary I believe these verses are a formula for spiritual fruit in our lives, and so I encourage you to dwell on them today.