Proverbs 10.29-30
“The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers. The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.”
This proverb picks up on “the path” metaphor that Solomon has used often in the first part of the book of Proverbs. “The way of the Lord” = the right path.
Every day you choose what path to follow. You choose what actions you will take (or not take) in pursuit of your goals. You choose whether to give up or persevere through the inevitable obstacles you will experience. You choose how to interact with people at work and family at home. You choose what principles and standards you use to make decisions and take action. That is your path.
The way of the Lord is the right path. It is the way of truth and wisdom; the way of the Spirit; the way of your new nature in Christ; the way of the kingdom of God. It leads to life.
“Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119.104-105)
The way of the enemy is the wrong path. It is the way of distorted standards; the way of lies and foolishness; the way of the flesh; the way of your old sin nature; the way of the kingdom of darkness. It leads to death.
The right path — the way of the Lord — is a stronghold for believers. In other words, you are strongest when you are on this path. This is because God blesses your obedience to the path. When you follow the path you have maximum access to the power of the Holy Spirit, you study the Word and pray diligently, and you have the direct support of other Christians.
For the foolish and wicked, however, the path is destruction. It’s not that the path doesn’t work for them, it’s that they have rejected the path, and therefore do not have access to any of the resources and blessings on the path.
We are seeing a steady, systematic moral decline in American society because individuals and institutions are abandoning the right path. Christian principles are barely tolerated. Christianity is viewed as privately engaging but rejected as publicly irrelevant. God has been relegated to the margins of culture. The principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition are not welcome in the culture-shaping institutions of our nation.
Even worse is that many people — individuals — have relegated God to the margins of their life. They want God’s blessings, but they don’t want his disciplines. They want salvation, but not obedience. They want what God has done for them, but they don’t want what the Lord seeks to do in them and through them.
From a social / cultural / political perspective, the great question for America is: what path will our nation choose to follow? What principles and moral standards will guide American society? But first it is deeply personal. It begins with the individual. Every person is confronted with the same question: What path will you follow?
Followers of Jesus understand the power of the path. They understand that the way of the Lord is a stronghold.
Get on the path, stay on the path, and say no to anything off-path.
