Two Paths
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So a few years ago Meagan and I went shopping on a Saturday at these outlets that were about half an hour from our house. We had been there several times and we knew our way around the area. When we are done we hop back in the car and I am driving back home. Now there is this weird circle that leads to the exit to the highway and the signs are a little confusing. But I had done it enough that I was pretty sure I knew where we were going. So I exit and Meagan and are I talking as we drive home, and about 10 minutes in I am thinking “this seems a little different”, then 15 minutes in “I might be going in the wrong direction”, 20 minutes in “babe, are we going in the wrong direction”. To which she says “I thought we might be but I thought you knew where we were going”. So we have to turn around for what is now a 45 minute drive.
See, there are a lot of times in our lives where we think we are going in the right direction. We feel confident in our own ability to lead the way, we think we don’t need help from a map or from someone else who has been there before. And in this journey of life we can keep driving while we ignore all the signs that are telling us that we need to turn around.
"When I was your age”
"When I was your age”
In this chapter the father gives a warning to the son. “Don’t go in the wrong direction.” And he tells them about the dangers that lie on the other path. The first thing the father does is teach him from personal experience. He tells the child of his own personal foolishness as a child and how his father and mother taught him the way of life. What the father does it help the child to know that the father can relate to the same struggles that the son deals with. The father loves the son so he wants what is best for him, he wants him to learn and grow rather than struggle in the same way that he did.
Here is something that sometimes we forget or miss when our parents try and tell us something. That they love us and want what is best for us. Sometimes it can feel like they are trying to punish us or to make our lives miserable. We sometimes forget that they had to learn just like we do. That they have made mistakes and that they don’t want us to make the same ones. That is why the father pleads with the son. The father knows the hurt of making wrong choices, he knows the path that follows.
The father here doesn’t have a list of “don’ts” as much as he offers to the son the way of life and desires that his son choose this way. The father knows that unless the son desires to obtain wisdom then he won’t receive it, so he is focusing more on the benefits of wisdom, on the good that comes with following it then he spends on the don’ts. In the same way, the Lord doesn’t focus on the don’ts as much as God’s Word tells us what the best source of life is and desires that we should choose it.
Which will you choose
Which will you choose
This is why the father then turns to the two ways of life that he must choose. There is the “way of wisdom” and there is “the path of the wicked”. Proverbs 4:18-19 tell us about these two paths. “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.”
What is shown is just how badly one can stumble on this path of the wicked. This is why the father uses such strong language. “Keep off the path”, “don’t proceed”, “avoid it”, “don’t travel on it”, “turn away”, “pass it by”. He is telling him to not even walk closely with the path of the wicked. Don’t dip your tows in, don’t walk on the side of, don’t “see what is going on over there”. The father gives the picture of almost a “duty” to do evil when you walk on this path. That they can’t stop until the job is done. Because going on this path means that you don’t stop till you are satisfied. when you live in darkness you don’t do the wrong things in order to live, but you live to do all these sins. You wake up excited to do those things that are against God’s will. Have you ever just had your heart set on doing something you know you shouldn’t? You think about it all day, you can’t get your mind off of doing those things. You day revolves around doing that thing, thinking it will bring you joy.
What the father warns is that there is danger on this path. There are traps on the path of evil. Dangers that we may not always see, or sometimes don’t always recognize until it is too late. That is the truth about wickedness, is that it takes and takes but it never gives back. It will always ask for more until one day you are dealing with the consequences of your evil while everyone else runs for cover.
But on the path of life, though, the Lord will protect those who obey Him. He protects from dangers that will come.
Keep wisdom close
Keep wisdom close
After reminding the son of these dangers that are on the path of the wicked he reminds his son again to pay attention and to not forget about the wisdom that he is giving him. He wants these truths to be close to the heart of his son, he wants for it to be familiar to him. Are there sayings that you parents have that they say to you all the time? Maybe something like “make good choices”. If you had Meagan as a teacher you know that she would say “use your words to edify”. He tells him these because of what the father tells him in v. 23. “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”. Because you know what happens if you don’t guard your heart? Your heart becomes evil and sin just becomes natural to you. Jesus warns us about this Luke 6:4 “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” See, your actions reveal what is already happening in your heart. If you are using bad language, if you are constantly putting others down, then it means there is something in your heart. This is why the next thing the father says is that you don’t let dishonest talk come out of your mouth. Because the mouth just speaks what is already in the heart.
See, the personality is affected by the actions and by the thoughts of the person. In our hearts is joy, hope, and life. The incredible news is that the Lord can cleanse our hearts, but we must be willing to receive it. We must be willing to carefully consider our ways. This is why we must constantly consider when we lie to our parents or to others. Even when we feel the need to lie about things that we have done (because trust me, we all lie more than we even recognize), or exaggerate a story so we sound cooler, this is why we must consider how we speak to others, if we use our words to edify, if we are constantly feeling the need to defend ourselves and prove something to others or get the last word in. These small things, they start to have an affect on us.
The father says “don’t turn to the right or to the left”. Did you know that if you closed your eyes, no matter how hard you tried, you would not be able to walk in a straight line, in fact you would end up walking in a circle. We need to keep our eyes ahead and focused on our destination in order to reach it. It is very easy to move to the left or right. We have to carefully consider our way.