On the Path

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:26-27

My parents came to celebrate my birthday when I lived in Cincinnati. They asked me how I wanted to celebrate. At that point in my early twenties there was no question how to celebrate my birthday - King's Island. My parents lovingly took me to King's Island for a day filled with ups, downs, and loopty-loops. Thankfully I brought plenty of aspirin for our day. Each ride was build with its own maze of twisting, turning lines to herd swarms of people to the final destination. After a few rides into the day, my parents looked at me and told me to look around at everyone in line. They wanted me to notice that they were without question the oldest ones in line. There wasn't any question about it, there weren't any parents fifty year old parents in line with their twenty-one year old sons.
Each ride brought it's own thrill and joy to my heart, but Mom and Dad had a different experience all together. We were in line for the same ride, but looking at the pictures from our day, you can see we're having two totally different experiences. As soon as each ride catapulted us to maximum speed, Mom screamed bloody murder. Despite my enjoyment of Mom's fear, my dad's agony got so fierce I thought he needed medical attention.
The line at each ride wound around and around taking us to our final destination. We knew where we were going, but it led each of us to a different destination. I enjoyed the end of my path, while Mom and Dad came to their end with dread and terror. The book of Proverbs presents us with the idea that we are all on a path. Many spiritual, philosophical, and religious ideas utilize this metaphor. The book of Proverbs, and the Bible overall, gives us a clear picture how to follow the right path and end in the right place. One is either on the path to wisdom or the path to foolishness. The worst scenario we could find ourselves in is to walk the course of our lives thinking we're headed for one destination and at the end of our path find we're in for something far and far worse than we expected. The difference between other religious or philosophical ideas is that wisdom is not abstract. Rather, wisdom is a person. If you want to find wisdom, then pursue Jesus Christ.
Take a moment to read Proverbs 2:1-20 to consider how you are pursuing Jesus Christ.