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Ponder the Path

We need to give careful consideration to the way we choose to go. 

Things have definitely improved for me thanks to GPS, but before we had these technologies we needed to plan ahead. If we didn't know how to get somewhere, we needed to ask for directions or look at a map. We also needed to think about things like road construction, traffic patterns at different times of day, or whether or not we wanted to pay tolls. The GPS allows us to consider these options, but we still have to make choices about our route. 

That is the idea behind what Solomon told his son. In Proverbs 4:26 he wrote, "Ponder the path of your feet, then your ways will be sure." 

The Hebrew word translated as ponder is used four times in the Bible, and each time it is translated into a different English word. The best definition seems to be "to weigh," so the instruction in this proverb is to weigh all the options, then make the best decision. 

We might plan on going a certain way, or leaving at a certain time, and then we remember rush hour will congest the roads, so we call an audible. We weigh the options, then decide what we think is best. 

That is why our Creator gave us free will. He didn't program us like robots, but allows us to weigh all the options--Buddhism, atheism, Islam, etc.--and then choose what we think is best. If there were no other options on the table, we didn't really choose the God of Heaven. Even Adam and Eve had to make this choice, and they initially chose the serpent and the wrong tree. 

So which route should we choose? In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said,"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Ponder the path of your feet, and after weighing all the options, choose Jesus. 


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