Our Path

There is a path I have noticed in the pages of Scripture that every man and woman on earth walks. You can't measure this path in terms of distance or years of personal experience. It isn't even measured by the pages within God's Holy Word that reveals it. It is the journey between obedience and disobedience.

The long, arduous walk is between Psalm 1 and Psalm 51. Listen to the words of Psalm 1...

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (NIV)

At one point in the life of David he was the embodiment of those words. He was like a tree planted by rivers of water. He meditated on God's Word day and night. That is the fire that forged the amazing, zealous character of David.

But somewhere along the way, David's attention got diverted. All the power and people and time somehow, slowly etched away at his stellar reserve so much so that instead of being captivated by the Word he lusted after a woman.

In his mighty fall, David didn't just lose his integrity but his joy as well. In Psalm 51, David begs God to cleanse him of his sin. Listen to his words:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts...(NIV)

This is the path that we all walk. If we would do what David did in the beginning and just immerse ourselves in the Word we could avoid so much heartache and loss of joy. Sin brings great separation and sadness.

Where would you find yourself on the continuum of obedience and disobedience? Are you leaning one way or the other?

You know what is interesting in this journey between Psalm 1 and Psalm 51 is Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is one of the strongest prophetic Psalms foreshadowing the coming of our Lord and Savior to die for the disobedient path that we far too often trod.

He took on our sins, even though he had none of his own, and laid down his life so that we would not waffle anymore between which path we should walk. He has called us to walk the path that he has walked. He is asking us to walk in his steps...to walk in the light.

And that which lights our way is the Word. The Word is our light for our feet on this journey of obedience.

I don't want to have a prophet have to hit me over the head only for me to discover that I have been incessantly sinning against my Father in heaven. I want to obey. I want to be renewed on the Word daily.

I want to walk for Him.