The Straight Path

February 11

Exodus 27

Psalm 21:1-7

Proverbs 4:25-27

Matthew 25:14-30

The Straight Path

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV

My prayer has often been, “Lord please keep me on your path. I do not want to be even one step off. I want to be right in the center of your will.” I love this passage because it perfectly conveys my prayer. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We are so easily distracted. We so often take our eyes off Jesus and look at the problems around us. When Peter was walking on the water with Jesus, as long as he was looking at Jesus, he was fine, but when he began to look at the waves around him, he began to sink. When we keep our focus on Jesus and trust Him to help us with whatever we are facing, we are able to stay above the water, but when we begin to look around, we get stressed and anxious and begin to sink.

We are also easily distracted by the things of the world around us. Satan knows exactly how to make sin enticing. It rarely looks evil with skull and crossbones warning us not to go near. He often dresses it up to look harmless so that we follow him down the path and end up at a place we never thought we would go. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” (NIV) Staying close to Him and seeking Him in all our ways will keep us on the path God has marked out for us. The path that leads to the abundant, full life He has planned for us.