The Way that Seems Right
There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is death. Solomon
I suppose there is no other passage of Scripture that has caused me to study God's word than the one above. It's found in Proverbs 14:12, and repeated, word for word, in Proverbs 16:25. It's an idea that can cause some to not even try, but it has made countless decent men and women try even harder.
Have you ever been driving to a new destination and taken the wrong turn? We all have, and it can be very frustrating. It's even more maddening when we could have asked for directions, but were so confident of our ability to find our own way that we just "guessed" at how to get somewhere.
I have been lost so many times through the years when trying to find my own way that I have lost count. That's why I like directional devices like Garmin and Tom-Tom, that can prevent even me from getting lost. Wouldn't it be nice if we had such a guide when it comes to our service to God? Something that we could just punch in the coordinates and out would pop the right directions.
But we do, when you think about it. It's called the Bible. Many people will argue that no one can really understand it, but they fail to realize how insulting that is to God. Such an argument implies that God was incompetent when giving His directions or that He failed when giving us a mind to figure out those directions. The fact is that God is neither incompetent, nor has He ever failed. This necessarily means that nobody has to take "the way that seems right" but that "ends in death"
In short, this means we can know the truth if we will just put in the effort to find it. So, do you know the truth? Or, will you be content to go your own way and hope for the best? For those of us who believe in eternity, the answer to those questions may very well determine whether we will find the right path to the destination that God has chosen for us, or the path that the Devil wants us to travel.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14, NIV)
