“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…’” -Jeremiah 6:16
I really love the above verse from Jeremiah. I read that at the beginning of a chapter of John Eldredge's book "The Way of the Wild Heart". What follows is a older blog I wrote. Yes, it's a older blog for this new blog I've created, but it is the reason for the name of my blog and it's a concept I hold dear. Hope you enjoy:
In the New Living Translation Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” Since the dawn of creation man has had a choice. Men have had a choice to do that which is right and good or that which is wrong and evil. Genesis 2:15-17 says, “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die” (Emphasis mine). So God set before men the choice to follow the path of righteousness or path of destruction. In the next chapter, verse 6, the author says, “¼So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” From the very beginning we chose to disobey God and travel down a treacherous and deadly path. Our society today is not all that different. Whether through greed, hatred, or pride we as a nation are choosing to travel down the wrong paths.
We live in a society of “instant everything.” Instant food, instant messaging, and instant results. The advances of our technology have put everything at our fingertips. With the click of a mouse or the push of a button, we can get what we want on-demand, overnight, or with free shipping and handling. Now these things in essence are great! But they have had a bad influence on our society. Our society, more particularly this generation of young people, has become the “me generation.” Everything is about me, myself, and I. We want what we want, and we want it now. Apple has really sold this narcissistic idea. We have the iPod whose family is the iPod SHUFFLE, iPod NANO, iPod CLASSIC, and, of course, the iPhone. We want stuff that we do not need. We are emerging as one of the greediest and most selfish generations. Greed has had its effect on the family too. Proverbs 15:27 says, “Greed brings grief to the whole family…” A greedy father will neglect his family in order to obtain wealth. The path of greed and selfishness ends in death. Romans 2:8 says, “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” We are called to be externally focused not selfish, greedy, and self-seeking. We have what we have so that we may share with others who are in need.
Joel Osteen writes in his new book, Become a Better You, “The Scripture says that in the last days the love of the great body of people will grow cold.” Osteen is referring to II Timothy 3: 1-5 which says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them” (Emphasis mine).We have an innate need, in our hearts, to love and be love. But I see that love has grown cold in the United States. Mothers are neglecting their children and in some cases killing them. A woman micro-waved her newborn, and a father threw his four children, ages three months to four-years-old, off a bridge into a river. I believe love is growing cold because our society’s finding love in all the wrong places. Our society tries to find love in everything from another person to their jobs. A wife tries desperately to find love and fulfillment in her husband. A husband seeks contentment in his job by staying late and working his way up the corporate ladder. We go about searching for something that is right in front of our faces. Saint Francis of Assisi said, “What we are looking for is what is looking.” We all go around desperately searching for love while Love is looking at us the whole time. Jesus is the only way to find love that satisfies our heart’s deepest desire to be loved. Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.”
Pride. Pride is hard to discuss because we do not know where to draw the line to determine if someone is prideful or simply just stating facts. You can be proud of your children or take pride in who you are as a person or you could be arrogant. God says in Proverbs 8:13 that He hates pride and arrogance. The epitome of arrogance and pride is the New England Patriots. Game after game the Patriots shut down their opponents. They went into Super Bowl 42 with puffed up heads and an 18-0 record. They walked out with their heads down and an 18-1 record. They bragged throughout the season and looked condescendingly at other teams. They scoffed at the other teams and built themselves up to be better than everyone else. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Their cocky attitudes cost them the Super Bowl victory. They have become notorious for cheating too. They got wrapped up in their cockiness and thought that they could reach the top by cheating. Isaiah 25:11 says, “…God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands.” The path of arrogance and pride does not end well for anyone. God used the underdog New York Giants to give the Patriots an attitude check. Luke 14:11 says. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Emphasis mine). That verse has Super Bowl 42 written all over it.
John Waller writes in his song The Blessing, “This day You set life, You set death right before us/ This day every blessing and curse is a choice now/ And we will choose to be a blessing for life.” God has placed the paths of life and death before us. He continues to place those paths before us everyday. The path we choose will determine if we are a blessing or curse to those around us. The question is this: “Are we choosing to be a blessing for life?” Jeremiah 6:16 says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…’” Even though we as a nation are choosing, by greed, hatred, and pride, to travel down the wrong path; the choice is still ours upon which path we will travel. Christians especially should be seeking the narrow path of righteousness. Robert Frost said it best, “Two roads diverged in a wood and I—I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” Christians should be leading the way in traveling the right path. The path of life has been made known to us (Psalms 16:11).
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