April 2

Apr 2 - Today from Proverbs 2 we look at verse 20
"Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous."

One Sunday I had the joy of sharing a children's message in our worship service. It was a message on 'boundaries'. I asked the children what a boundary was. One bright young man raised his hand. "It is the line where you stop," he said. What a great definition.
I guess because the definition carries the idea of 'stop', or 'limit' in it, people generally sense a boundary as a negative term. But, in God's economy - and in most practical applications - it is just the opposite. It's a positive term. Boundaries define. Boundaries guide. Boundaries protect. Boundaries are only negative when they are abused.
Boundaries are implicated in both thoughts of our verse today. 'Good men': How does society define a good man? By observing the practical boundaries of his life. He stops at lines which when crossed will do harm to his neighbor. He has a reputation of honesty. He draws the line at telling a lie to benefit himself. He has a reputation of generosity. He extends the line beyond spending all his material wealth on himself. He is not angry or violent. He draws the line at doing bodily or emotional harm to others. A man who has identified and lives out the boundaries of the golden rule, "Love your neighbor as yourself", is recognized by any society as a good man. Wisdom is more than learning the articles of the law; wisdom is gaining understanding of the law. God's laws are not limitations on life, they define the boundaries of life the way it should be lived in order for all mankind to benefit most in life. Good men understand this. They are not judgmental legalists, they are men of integrity who deeply care about their fellow man. They are men who display the character of Christ.
Jesus makes a peculiar comment to a man in Mark 10:18, "Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone." I have a question mark in my Bible next to that phrase. Jesus was good. There are good people in the world. What was Jesus saying? Perhaps He was telling the man that only God understands and gives perfect dimension to all boundaries and stays perfectly within and perfectly fills all boundaries. We identify men to be 'good' who best understand the boundaries and who live accordingly. This makes sense because the man asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He apparently lived within the boundaries in the legal sense, but he still didn't understand or fill the spirit of the boundaries. Back to the golden rule - "Love your neighbor." The inquiring man still did not have the boundary of compassion. In this case, his boundaries were too tight. Wrong dimension, an abuse of boundaries. Maybe it's time to remove that question mark. Jesus answered the young man immediately with His initial statement. He was saying, "You can do nothing to inherit eternal life. You already blew it."
In the second thought of our verse we see the phrase "paths of the righteous". A path certainly has boundaries. Boundaries give both definition and direction to a path - and in this case, protection. Step off the path of righteousness and you are in the territory of 'the god of this world' whose chief goal is to cause you to stumble. When we think of the wide and narrow paths (Matthew 7:13,14), we often think of two separate paths. But I am thinking more and more of a path within a path. The wide path is the path of fallen humanity. It is easy to follow because there are no boundaries. I now see the narrow path as a path within a path. Jesus came, born as a man, to make a way to the Father right in the midst of the path of fallen humanity. He is that way (John 14:6). He is the Good Shepherd, and He leads us in paths of righteousness. He gives definition and direction. He fulfilled the laws and the prophets. We gain understanding of the Father by knowing and understanding Him. Right in the middle of all of the information, imaginations, choices, confusion, turmoil and uncertainties of the wide path of humanity, Jesus carves and reveals a path of restoration to the Creator Father. We can know Him. We can enjoy Him. We can live with Him forever. Jesus not only shows us the lines where we must stop to keep from wandering off the paths of righteousness and into the stumbling darkness, but He gives us grace to do so.
Praise be to God who alone is good, and to His Son who makes us good! Amen.