A Road Too Far!
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
But I didn’t mean to go there!
You see, I followed the directions of my friend, Bozo…
There is a saying, “The Road to hell is paved with good intentions!”
It seemed RIGHT at the time!
In this particular day and age, I sometimes wonder if the road we are on as a nation is REALLY where we want to go, or if we just want the band we lead to be the biggest band on ANY way which seems right. It’s a parade! A NEVER-ENDING parade! At any rate, for some, and maybe quite a few, it will be a road whose end is the way of death.
A way which seems right… I truly wonder if today’s people stop to calculate the “end of the road” before they take themselves and those marching in their parade to the destination which will come whether you plan/pack for it or not!
Apart from complete sociopaths, most people do not purposefully and willingly take themselves or anyone to death and or destruction. Historically, apart from evil that sets out to KILL their enemies and those who are useless to them, most people would not encourage trends that will end badly. And MOST PEOPLE do not believe their favorite leaders will lead them to a “bad end”.
For instance, training up children to believe that whatever they desire is someone else’s job to provide (because they are SO DESERVING), is historically proven to be hellish when they meet an adversary that not only refuses to provide but takes away everything they already have.
Do their parents ever consider the end result of telling them how precious and wonderful they are without regard to teaching them that life (the cause and effect of living), is rarely fair, no matter how precious and wonderful you are. Do these same parents even acknowledge that their household economy only works as long as they, the parents, provide all that is necessary to sustain it.
Luke 15:11-14 And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
Learning his lessons the hard way, he tried to make his own way, 15 -16 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
I love this next line… 17 but when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
In our nation today, we are much like this young man. We, without forethought, take the riches and beauty this wonderful country provides, and throw it at whatever wind is blowing upon us at the moment. We didn’t have to do much of the work to earn it, but we surely believe it is our right to spend it any which way that seems right to us.
The mantra today is FREE! FREE! FREE! stuff for every desire and or action required in order to make everyone happy and willing to join MY BAND and MARCH IN my parade.
Warning… you may want to think this through…
Luke 14:28-29 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
Luke 14:31-32 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
Real life consequences for real life failure to calculate the WAY you want to go, may be, failure and defeat, or even, the way of death, as your destination.
There is a way which seems right to us, do you have it set in your heart? Calculate the cost,to you and those in the parade with you.
And…
Last but certainly NOT LEAST! Get directions! Not just a map from your favorite GPS, but from the Person who cares even more than you about your destination than even you! ETERNALLY!
John 10:7-10 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Who do you BET YOUR LIFE ON?
The politician who depends on your donations to feed his favorite constituents and will sell you to the highest bidder for slaughter? The Hollywood actor/actress who acts the part but reads from the script of the movie currently running in their mind? The press who report what they want to be the truth? Your bestest friends and friends of friends, who enjoy all of the SAME THINGS you do?
Or… the One who loved you enough to give you His abundant life… “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. (John 10:11-13)
The FAKE shepherds of our world today, are obvious when they flee from loving you, when you refuse to be in the pens they have been hired to pack with sheep. You think you KNOW THEM and count on them to KNOW YOU!
But there is ONLY ONE who KNOWS YOU and willingly loves you act all cost to Him… I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15)
We ALL, every on of us, have a way that SEEMS RIGHT to us, but its end is the way of death. Remember the garden? Remember Adam (and Eve) who had everything they could ever imagine at their fingertips? Remember the snake, the enemy of God and all He has made?
We have the way… BUT GOD… has the direction…
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Uncorrupted and incorruptible! God is good all the time…
And all the time…
GOD IS GOOD!
If you ask for His righteous direction, your ears will hear a word behind you, “ This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)
His road will always lead to abundant life!
Which is never “A Road Too Far”!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.