Proverbs 4: A Straight Path in a Crooked World
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Choosing the Father’s Way in the Midst of Chaos
Proverbs Chapter 4 is a full message from a dad and a little bit of a message from a grandfather. The dad is telling his sons how he was once in their place, a child loved by his parents who cared enough to teach him. Now he’s passing that teaching to the children he loves.
I love how AI created this image with all those roads and people on them. Though there are more people on the straight road than is probably reality, it perfectly illustrates the culture we live in now, one defined by choice paralysis. I just learned that term while studying this chapter, and it truly bridges the gap from simple biblical advice to the cacophony of answers we must slog through in our current world. Every day, we are bombarded with “new ways” to be healthy, get smarter, and spend our time so as not to get bored. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of directions we could take, all with their own marketing hype to create–or play on–our FOMO (fear of missing out) issues.
This chapter has great advice about walking in wisdom and its promise of a long life. Verse 13 reminds these children (and us) to hold on to these instructions and not let go, and to guard them because they bring life. It’s as if good instruction and wisdom are a life raft in a raging sea. (Spoiler: They are.) Verses 14-17 are filled with strong warning about avoiding the paths of evil because of who they’ll meet on it. Verses 18 and 19 directly compare the path of the righteous with the way of the wicked, and I love the description for the righteous path in the Berean Study Bible.
Proverbs 4:18-19 BSB
[18] The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. [19] But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.4.18-19.BSB
Finally, Proverbs 4:26-27 offers simple clarity. Instead of urging us to explore every road until we find what makes us comfortable; it tells us to “Carefully consider the path of your feet.” Just as the father in the picture points toward the one straight road, God’s Word directs us to walk straight forward without turning to the right or left so we can keep our feet away from evil. That’s discernment, and it’s even more necessary today when media and makeup can distort the truth to make evil look good, and good look evil. Thankfully, good and evil are not defined by behaviors so much as by whether God is the focus or not. The word “evil” actually means “minus God,” and that explains how in the days of Noah, men’s thoughts were continuously evil (or continuously not on God). It didn’t have to mean everyone had a criminal mind, just that they all had minds focused on everything but God. And that’s why it even got into the church–both then and now.
As I read this chapter, I was reminded of an old song by Charley Pride called “This Highway Leads to Glory.” I like it best by Wilma Burgess but couldn’t find either with lyrics, so enjoy this one by a youth group in Hong Kong…
Let’s Consider These Things Together:
Ephesians 4:14 CSB says
[14] Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/eph.4.14.CSB
What is one road you can see being laid out today to distract people (including in the church) from God’s truth? Drop me a comment below—let’s encourage each other to keep our feet on the straight path!
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Well, Since God Said So
FAITH–Forsaking All, I Trust Him
Photo of yellow rose in green frame by Crystal A Murray
(Edits with Irfanview and Fractalius)
Yesterday, we read about God giving Abraham’s servant a sign that he was moving in the right direction, and through it, the servant found Rebekah as a future wife for Isaac. Today, we read in Genesis 24:27 through Genesis 24:52, and the story is almost exactly the same except that it is being retold by the servant to Rebekah’s relatives.
In verses 47 & 48, the servant begins to share his personal reaction to being shown a positive sign about Rebekah. He tells the family how he put the gifts of jewelry on her, and then he describes bowing before Adonai and worshiping Him for bringing him to the right place. In verse 49, he gives his audience the chance to make a decision about whether or not they will believe and adhere to the direction that has been shown to the servant and confirmed by the sign, and I love their response.
In verses 51 & 52, the two men respond by saying (my paraphrase), “Well, since this is obviously from God, we can’t say anything good or bad. Since Rebekah is here before you, take her and go, and let her become your master’s son’s wife…since God said so.” And at that point, the servant again bowed on his face to worship Yahveh Almighty.
If only we could all respond as calmly and without argument, right? I know I have thought for sure that God said things, but then I waited for a person to confirm what I knew in my heart. When I didn’t get the human support I felt I needed, I backed down only to find later that I should have listened to that still, small voice in my spirit. If only I would always understand that His ways and thoughts are above my ways and thoughts and, with or without human support or understanding, move forward in obedience just because God said so. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end leads to destruction. And then… there is God’s way.
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October 29, 2013 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Abraham, Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, bow before God, bow down, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, direction, faith, follow, forsaking all, forsaking all I trust Him, Genesis, Genesis 24, God, God said, God said so, God's voice, God's way, God's will, holy, Holy Bible, I trust Him, Isaac, Laban, Lord, obedience, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, praise, praise God, prostrate before God, Rebekah, Scripture, servant, thanksgiving, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, worship, worship God, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh | Leave a comment