Stick to the Path

 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside."

(Job 23:10-11)

Psalm 17:5 My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped.

Psalm 44:18 Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Your way,

I once watched a program on the Animal Planet Channel that talked about the ten deadliest snakes in the world. Apparently Tennessee has nine of these ten. I'm glad I didn't know that at the time we were living in Tennessee. But I did know there were snakes and since I knew that snakes just want to be left alone, I left them alone and didn't disturb areas where I knew snakes like to hide. I was careful.

When I took the kids hiking we always stayed on the pathway and never veered off to walk through the leaves. I guess because we were so careful, we never saw a live snake in the wild the entire four years that we lived there.

Pathways are good places to walk. A pathway is formed by someone going before you to clear the brush, rocks and debris from the area. Over time the pathway becomes well worn by the many people who walk on it and it becomes easily recognizable. And usually if you stick to the path you won't get lost. If there is a snake or another danger in the path, it can be spotted in time to avoid a uncomfortable confrontation.

I like following a path and I like sticking to it because I know it is a tested way of getting where I am going. Someone has gone on before and proven the way. But not everyone likes sticking to a pathway. Some want to go their own way and blaze their own trail. Some like the adventure, the danger of branching out on their own and that's fine too, when it comes to pathways. But when it comes to God's ways and His plans, His way is best.

When we stick to the pathway He has laid out for us, we won't get ourselves into trouble. When we follow His instructions for living our life, we won't slip. We can get ourselves into trouble though when we follow our own inclinations, when we want to do things our way instead of His. God's Word is a clear pathway to success in our life both here and for eternity if we will only choose to follow it. He has made the way clear to see. It is well worn and easily recognizable because many have gone on before and followed the same pathway.

We not only have God's Word, the Bible, to show us the path to God but we also have the advantage of having Christian books and sermons with preaching and teaching to help us find the pathway too. Never before in the history of mankind has the Word of God been so accessible to so many. Yet not everyone will choose to follow His pathway. Not everyone will stick to the path that is laid out before them. They will choose to go their own way not knowing that their way leads to death and destruction.

 

I encourage you to choose to walk on God's path and have new life.If you have chosen to walk your own path and you realize that it isn't leading anywhere, it's not too late to get on the right path. God will welcome you and walk the path with you. God bless.

Deuteronomy 30:14-20 says:
 the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you... 

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed...

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,