Set Your Feet on a Level and Firm Path

Level the path for your feet, let all your ways be properly prepared; then deviate neither right nor left;
and keep your foot far from evil.
~ Proverbs 4:26-27 ~

Watch means to weight out or to ponder.  The idea here is that someone is pondering evil and then choosing to avoid it.  It means to seriously think about the path your feet are going to take – and choose to take them in a direction pleasing to the Lord.  Sometimes we don’t think enough about the path of our feet.  We just act and go along with our lives.  We don’t take the time to think about where we’re going – what we’re doing – and where it is going to lead when things reach a conclusion. 

We are told that if we will do this we will have all our ways established.  Ways is “derek” which again is the Hebrew word that refers to our lifestyle – the way we’re going in life.  To have that way or that lifestyle established means to have it firm and fixed.  It means our lifestyle is one that is upright and good.  We will have a life that matters and just as important – one that will be steadfast in what pleases and honors the Lord.  There is also a sense in which we are being told our lives will last – whereas the worldling and the wicked man will only be temporary. 
~ Thinking About the Future – Jonesboro Calvary Chapel ~

In Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-25 the Savior taught two different paths. These paths have a gate. An entry way. One of them is a wide gate with a broad road. The other is a narrow gate with a narrow path. The contrast is that many find themselves going through the wide gate and traversing the broad path. One that leads toward destruction. The other is where few individuals find and traverse a narrow path leading toward life. He then stated that he is the gate and His way of life is the path we are called to journey.

The advice in Proverbs 4:26-27 is not unusual wisdom. It is something one may hear from any father, teacher, leadership training, or even military training. The issue for me is how to define such terms. What does “level” mean? Which ways are firm?

One may find vast disagreements between what the world considers level or firm and the directions God leads us in. Take Abraham, for example. He thought he was choosing the level and firm path when he had a son through Hagar, trying to fulfill God’s promise (see Genesis 10). It seemed like the only rational way. but God’s way, though not rational by our standards, was a far surer path. Or look at Jesus for another example. Which of His disciples would have told Him that the way of the Cross was the way of wisdom? By their standards, it was foolishness and disaster. By God’s, it was the ultimate expression of faithfulness and truth.

When this verse commands me to make level paths and to take firm ways, it is not telling me to follow conventional wisdom. This is not a suggestion to play it safe. It is an order to follow my Heavenly Father, to heed His wisdom and trust His guidance, no matter how foolish it looks to a skeptical and watching world. It is a call t base our lives in the ultimate reality of Scripture rather than the finite understanding of human logic. I must understand that the level and firm paths are the ones that are level and firm in God’s sight – not mine or anyone else’s.

When I seek wisdom and guidance for my life, there is no attention given to whether my path is safe or risky, conventional or unconventional. Consider on whether it is based in God’s truth, sensitive to His voice, and reflecting His purposes as revealed in His Word. This is ultimately the only safe, level, firm way there is to living a faithful, mindful, and spiritually enriching life.

Have you strayed from the level and firm path of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Struggling to maintain faithful discipline in a mindful and spiritual Christian way of living? What does it mean for you to make level the path and maintain firm conviction upon God’s revealed truth?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Share this inspiring message with others. Subscribe for more daily inspiring messages to help you grow in your own way of living a more meaningful and mindful Christian life. Please partner and support us through financial donations to help assist in providing ongoing inspiring messages.

Thank you – Damascus Way Recovery