A Fool’s Path

A wise man is cautious and turns from evil…a man’s own foolishness leads him astray.
– Proverbs 14:6a & 19:3a

When I think about Jesus’ call on our life to enter in the narrow gate and avoid the broad path that leads to destruction (Matthew 7), I congratulate myself for choosing the narrow path when I was seven. Once on the narrow path, always on the narrow path…right?

As I continue to follow Christ into adulthood, I am learning that every decision I make creates a new path in my life. But this metaphorical narrow path has exit signs every two minutes or so inviting me to inadvertently merge onto the broad path.

Proverbs instructs us that a wise man turns away from evil whereas a foolish man turns toward it and is led astray. Vague definitions and descriptions of “evil” create barriers for us to reflect on this warning personally. We tend to think, “Of course I’m not running toward EVIL!”

Evil comes in all forms and temptations for us – anger, jealousy, pride, laziness, dishonesty, the list continues. For me, my broad paths lately lead to comfort.

God calls us to Himself and to His glory. This lifestyle creates friction with my desire to be self-relient on my paycheck, knowledge, and abilities. But the Lord has been reminding me that my comfort is not His goal and that this earth is not my permanent home. For the same reasons I didn’t decorate our temporary apartment before moving into a house, I don’t need to create a comfortable and complacent lifestyle on earth either. 

We’ll merge into the broad path from time to time, but God’s grace allows u-turns back to Himself.