He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
Proverbs 2:7-15 NIV
There is a metaphor running through these verses and it is the subject of today's Day Share. It is the idea of a right path.
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path
We have some key features of the 'good path' - right or righteousness, justice and fairness. How do we find this path? The writer tells us that it is God's path. We need to find Wisdom from God in order to locate this path. He shows us the path through life. In this path, we have God's protection and preservation. The verses remind us that he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. This might be misunderstood to imply that if you are on the right path everything will be just fine. There is no evidence from the Bible to suggest this, however. If we look at the lives of Bible characters we find that they experienced troubles in their lives. David, for example, had his highs and his lows. He found himself in a cave along with a bunch of social outcasts. However, the same man wrote personally of God's preservation and protection as he journeyed along this path.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [Psalms 23:2-4 NIV]
David acknowledges that life is not always the 'green pastures' or the 'quiet waters.' He is only too well aware that there are dark valleys to be encountered. But the knowledge of God's presence is a comfort and a guide to him in the bitterest of experiences.
There are others who are not following this path. If this is the right path, there is also a path which is the wrong path and there are more people on the wrong path than the right path (Matthew 7:13-14). Proverbs gives some detail about those who are not on the right path.
They are described as wicked men (and women)
Their words are perverse
They have deliberately left the straight paths
They are walking in dark ways (resisting the light of God)
They delight to do wrong
They rejoice in the perverseness of evil
Their paths are crooked
They are devious in their ways
The temptation is to look at this list and decide that none of these apply to me and so this provides a false assurance that I must be on the right path. The New Testament provides more guidance to suggest that if we are not following the path of faith, then we are on the wrong path (See Hebrews 11:6)
In the Old Testament, the Jews looked to the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) as their guide to keep them on the right path. They had the ten commandments as the basis for holy living. They had a knowledge of Yahweh as the One God.
What about us today? Do we need a series of commandments as our guide? The verse which the Holy Spirit has given me is from John's Gospel.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
[John 14:6 NIV]
This is one of the seven 'I am' statements from the Son of God. Jesus was replying to a question which Thomas had asked, "How can we know the way?" Jesus does not tell Thomas to follow the Torah or the Mishnah (which was a collection of oral teaching from the Jewish rabbis). He did not advise them to follow the example of the Pharisees who were seeking to find God by strict observance of a prohibitive set of rules. He points to Himself as the great 'I am,' a claim to be God. He alone is the way to the Father. The way is not following any set of rules. He is the way.
If we are seeking to live our lives by any set of rules, we will be frustrated and failing. We must depend entirely on Jesus the Son of God who is the way. He is not pointing to the way. He, Himself, is the way. Unless we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are not on the right way to God. Notice that Jesus said that He is the only way to the Father - "no one comes to the Father except through me."
Photo by Karren McPherson our 'photographer in residence.' I wonder if any of you recognise where she took the picture.
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