August 2nd – Proverbs 2: The Paths of the Righteous

“Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.” – Proverbs 2:20

If you pay close attention to the path you are on, you will be able to tell what company you are in. Righteous people have lived the same way for all generations. They have trodden well-worn paths that are easy to spot for someone that is looking. Good men all walk the same way. They love God and they love their brothers. Love for God will keep you from violating half the commandments, loving your neighbor will keep you from the rest. It’s been this way from the beginning.

“This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” – Genesis 6:9

Noah was righteous; he was blameless among the people. He didn’t steal his neighbor’s possessions or sleep with his neighbor’s wife. He didn’t harm or murder his fellow man. As a result, the Bible records that he was “blameless among the people of his time”. He stood out. Anyone could look at Noah and recognize that he was a good man. But more than that, the Bible says about Noah, “he walked with God”. Righteous people have been walking with God for thousands of years. Noah walked with God, Abraham walked with God, even being called “God’s friend” (II Chronicles 20:7). Isaac, Jacob and Moses all walked with God and this was before the blood of Jesus!

Good men have been walking out a “way” in the midst of wicked people for generations. Righteous people have been cutting paths through the wasteland of unrighteousness and faithlessness for thousands of years. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel and create a way; we just need to find the existing paths. The Bible tells us a few things about the path of the righteous:

“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” – Proverbs 4:18

The path of the righteous is a path of increasing light. It gets brighter!

“The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.” – Isaiah 26:7

The path of the righteous is level. It’s not this up and down roller coaster of emotion. It’s steady, stable and always heading gently upwards.

"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.” – Matthew 7:13,14

The road of the righteous that leads to life is NARROW. It’s small and only a few find it; not many people are walking on it.

LIFE LESSON:

Look down. What path are you walking on?