… the prudent give thought to their steps.
Proverbs 14:15 NIV
Ugh… as my foot failed to effortlessly lift from the ground, I just knew I had stepped on some carelessly discarded gum! I hate when this happens! I am normally very mindful of where I am walking whether it be on the sidewalk or the nature trails where dogs can sometimes leave their unwelcome piles. I try to carefully choose the paths I walk because who wants to go home with a memory like that of where their feet walked that day?
Careful consideration of the paths we traverse not only keeps us from making a mess of our shoes but can also help us make less of a mess of our lives. This summer our church did a sermon series called “The Path” on the book of Proverbs. Along with the weekly Sunday sermons that caused us to give careful thought to the paths we choose, we were also challenged to read a chapter a day from Proverbs during the month of August.
I have read Proverbs many times before and am aware that it is full of wisdom nuggets. One of the many things that caught my attention at the beginning of the series was the recurring use of the word path in Proverbs which I never noticed before. As the series continued, Proverbs started to evolve from being a book to skim through for the occasional nuggets of wisdom to becoming a book to guide me along paths to living a wiser and God-honoring life. If allowed, careful consideration and application of the wise counsel of Proverbs can change the trajectory of life for the better. I couldn’t help thinking about how this wisdom could have helped me to avoid many headaches of my younger years when the world’s ways seemed the more enjoyable and wiser paths to take.
But even today, as an adult who has studied the word of God for years, I am still susceptible to getting caught up in the paths the world entices us to explore. It might look a little different today but it still distracts me from the wiser and God-honoring paths He has for me. No matter what stage of life we are at, there is always a need to be wise and aware as our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Let us not be fooled as there will always be an agenda set by our enemy to keep us from the life God intends for His children. What might look and feel like the right paths for us to take could very well be the paths that lead us away from God. This is where the wisdom of Proverbs can help us when we have choices in front of us:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
God is faithful to guide our steps when we seek Him and allow His word to help us make wise decisions. Proverbs is a great place to frequently meditate upon to help us consider godly wisdom rather than worldly wisdom. A weekly or monthly reading plan for Proverbs would allow us consistent meaningful time acquiring wisdom that supports us in keeping on God’s paths for our lives. For perceived wisdom abounds from many sources and each offers a different path for us to discover. May these verses below from James 3:13-18 (NLT), help us consider our sources of wisdom, the paths they are leading us on and whether our steps are bringing each of us closer or further away from God and His ways.
If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Considerations 