June 4

Jun 4 - Today from Proverbs 4 we look at verses 14 & 15
"Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way."

I believe there is a covert fear in every human being; we are afraid that we are going to miss some physiological pleasure of this life and regret it forever. Some people appear to be so fearful of it that they pursue physiological pleasure with all their being. This is the path of the wicked. Others appear to grasp it only when the opportunity presents itself and all it takes is a little decisive effort to capture the moment. These are those who too often set foot on that path.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with pleasure. 'Wrong' comes into play when the particular pleasure is improperly placed on the 'value scale'. Our values are ordered by the question, "What is important?" The greater the importance we place on something, the higher the value. When personal pleasure becomes more important than our relationship with God, or than the condition of our neighbor, we have set our foot on the path of the wicked. We have set a temporary pleasure of this life as a higher value than the eternal things of God and His creation.
Let me share a practical example from common events in my own life. When our two sons were young and growing up we operated a family household (as best we could). Our common 'family time' was around the evening dinner table. We lived in a neighborhood, which harbored numerous little urchins around the same age as our boys. The entire group sought to spend as much time together as they could, discovering all the things kids their age discover. This grew to become a huge value in the lives of our sons - particularly our oldest. We began to detect this change when he would wolf down his hot dog and macaroni and cheese, gulp the last of his glass of milk and then run to the front window to see if any of the gang was out on the street. I would then have to practically drag him back to his chair and force him to enter into the 'boring' routine of family matters. Finally we would close with the reading of a scripture and prayer. (This was torture if it was known that the gang was already doing whatever they did outside.) It seemed that the very next sound after the word 'Amen' of the evening prayer was the slamming of the front door as our son made haste to unite with the gang. He was just sure that he had missed, or was going to miss out on the pleasure of some vitally important neighborhood adventure. Of course he seldom, if ever, did. And if he did, he really didn't lose anything. He still had his whole life ahead of him to discover new things.
I doubt that very little, if any, of what the kids were into would be considered wicked. This reminiscence was shared to make a point about values. As adult believers we should be much more careful in setting our own values. The thing about pleasure is that it is very temporal. It satisfies for the moment, and then it's a memory at best. We are foolish to trade moments for the future. That is the path of the wicked. They value momentary self-gratification as of greater importance than that of the presence of the eternal God or of the quality of the lives of others. Because pleasure is a huge element in the formula, it takes decisive effort to avoid setting foot on this path. God has called us to a higher calling, one that is more gratifying than we could ever imagine. He has set us on a path of righteousness that leads to an eternal abode that makes the pleasures of this life look like darkness (verses 18 & 19). When He says 'go on your way', He is encouraging you in that your way is the way He has provided. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." When we make our relationship with Him our highest value, we will be on a path which grows ever brighter and we will discover what true pleasure is really all about.