Staying on the Right Path
Often my wife and I will be amazed, in the midst situations, where one of us starts to do something and then find that, on the path to do one thing, we see something else that needs to be done and completely change our priorities and actions. Sometimes, we may not even remember what it was we initially intended to do. You can probably relate to times when you started doing one thing and for some reason you got off track. We can do this in our practical life and also in our spiritual life. We have a crafty enemy (The Devil – Satan) that will show us the very things that he knows will take us off our God-given course.
In our spiritual life, we need to stay on the narrow highway God has for us. This is what Isaiah 35:8-10 says: “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, not will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Repeated in Isaiah 51:11) In ancient times, there were certain roads, between temples, that only the ceremonially pure could travel.
With the business of life and all the technology and gadgets we have available, it is easy to get distracted. I was driving on Mission St. when a car in the lane next to me came to a screeching halt. I noticed that the driver was texting and almost rear-ended the car in front. A couple of years ago thirteen people, coming from a church retreat, died in Texas. The driver, of the truck that hit them, was texting. America is experiencing more traffic deaths and it is recorded to be because of distracted driving of many kinds.
As we travel the road of Holiness, with God, we can get easily deceived and distracted, if we don’t keep our eyes on Jesus and His specific way for us to travel. The Amplified Bible states Hebrews 12:1-2 this way: “Let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and the sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course…looking away (from all that will distract) to Jesus.” Also, in 1 Corinthians 7:35 it talks about “undivided devotion to the Lord”.
Walking the path, of service to the Lord, requires focus which prevents many distractions. This path of God’s holiness, because we realize we have been ransomed by the price of Jesus’ blood, will keep our heart and mouth singing. Joy will overtake our minds and hearts. Someday there will also be no more sorrow and sighing. It is all worth it, for the Kingdom of God, and preventing our lives (and others around us) from spiritual distractions and destruction. We need good examples, God’s Word and encouraging words, from the Body of Christ, to continue “Staying on the Right Path”.