“…to deliver you from the way
of evil…from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of
darkness…whose paths are crooked…her tracks lead to the dead…”
“So you will walk in the way
of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.”
From Proverbs 2:12 – 20.
Do we recognize the way of
evil and the way of good? Do we see the tracks that lead to death and the way
that leads to life?
When I introduce someone to
chess I know that once they have learned how the pieces move, and once they
have learned some basic openings, that they still have a long way to go until
they start to “see” the board. A chess board is more than 64 squares, it
consists of ranks and files and diagonals and areas of control and a center –
it may look like 64 squares but it isn’t – those players who see 64 squares
will not progress in the game, but those who learn to see pathways and
relationships between squares, those who “see” lines of play, they will embark
on a great lifetime adventure, an adventure with endless combinations and
possibilities.
Paul writes to the Corinthians
(3:1-2), “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as
to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid
food; for you were not yet able to receive it…”
In Hebrews 5:12 – 14 we read, “For
though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone
to teach you…and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who
partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is
an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their
senses trained to discern good and evil.”
Do we discern the paths of
evil and the paths of the righteous? Can we tell the difference? Do we “see”
the paths of uprightness and the ways of darkness? Can we “see” the board of
life or do we only see 64 squares, do we only see actions and not principles,
do we only see the immediate and not the root of the immediate, not the end
result of the immediate? Are we drinking milk or are we eating the solid food
of the word of righteousness?
Paul writes (Ephesians 4:14-15),
“…we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in
deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all
aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”
How are we training our
senses? How are we developing our vision of the chess board of life? How are we
teaching others to see the way of the righteous, and to recognize and avoid the
tracks that lead to death?
What did we have to eat today?
Milk or solid food?
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