Don't Look Back

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul. (Proverbs 16:17 NKJV)

I find this verse very interesting. A highway is an easy road to travel. It is long and straight, with very few turns or bends. One can travel for miles on it without so much as turning the steering wheel. The lanes are broad and wide, leaving plenty of room for error. It is paved smoothly and evenly, with the least amount of bumps so as not to trouble the occupants of the traveling vehicles. No road is so easy to traverse as a highway.

This verse tells us that to travel through life easily as on such a highway, we must depart from evil. Pondering this is quite interesting as well. To depart means you must first have been in a certain place. We have all been evil: lost in our sin without a Saviour. Once lost, but now found and saved. Since we are now the righteous, our instruction then is to depart from evil - depart and leave the ways of sin which we were accustomed to, behind.

Lot and his family lived in an evil city. Yet God had mercy on them and gave them a straight way of escape out of the city and out of the way of Sodom's destruction. However, though they had left the city, Lot's wife turned back to look whence she had come, and it was her undoing.

If you have made the decision to leave the city of evil, _don't look back._ Keep your eyes on the goal ahead and keep your feet on God's highway. Don't be lukewarm. Make up your mind as to whether you truly want to leave the city, and then don't look back.

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Keep Your Feet

My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners. (Proverbs 1:15, 19 NKJV)

There are many paths in life that lead to death, however many of them are subtle, and not all of them lead to physical death. Spiritual death can often be the result of wandering from God's way.

Proverbs tells is to keep our feet from the wicked's path; to completely avoid it, not even setting foot upon it. Why should this verse be so emphatic in warning us not to cross paths with the wicked, even by accident?

If we indulge in something unGodly even once, the images and the experience never leaves our minds. It becomes a constant source of temptation and creates a conflict and struggle in our spirit.

It only takes a toddler one taste of something sugary for them to be unsatisfied with the food that is good for them. So one taste of wickedness can make us unsatisfied with God, driving a nail into the coffin of our walk with Him.

These are some of the reasons we are so strongly warned to flee all appearances of evil. What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve. Therefore if we forsake the wicked path, the tempting things of the world will have nil effect on us because if we never indulge in them, we can't be tempted by them.

Let us then follow the wisdom of Paul to Timothy: "Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

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Heart Ties

Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:13, 14 NKJV)

There are times where life drags you from the day to day and throws you into upheaval, in everything from your daily routines to your daily devotions. Someone may call needing a hand, dragging you away from your ordinary day to soak up all of your time; arriving home late to collapse in bed at night with nothing more than a briefly murmured prayer. It may be a holiday season with a houseful of aunts, uncles and cousins, where you haven't even seconds to spare for some quiet time. Either way, we all have those periods where the world kidnaps us for a ride on its rollercoaster circuit of confusion and it is during these times of spiritual depravity that our heart before God fills in.

The above verse tells about a people who say all the right things according to the Lord; do all the right actions such as reciting Scripture and going to church, yet are without hearts that are closely communing with Him. These people are ones who wither and die spiritually when life takes them for a whirl. They conform to men's standards of righteousness by works, rather than cultivating a heart that is passionately on fire their Saviour.

Work on strengthening the heart ties you have between yourself and God rather than falling into the trap that merely good habits will make you acceptable before Him. This is not to say that spending ample time in His Word and in prayer are not important, but when times come that you are without devotions to read or a Bible to study, your heart relationship with the Lord is the ground you will be standing on, so make sure it is firm.
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