Pondering Proverbs – 11

“…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?