Today’s Reading

Genesis 48:1 – 49:33, Matthew 15:29 – 16:12, Psalm 20:1-9, Proverbs 4:20-27

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths then all your ways will be sure*. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

My dad had the strangest saying that I heard more than once when I was growing up. “You always take the harder way.” The longer I know Jesus, the more sense that makes. It is not that we are going out of our way to look for misery as if that was a virtue, but “taking up your cross daily” really does cost us something and there needs to be an intentionality with which we live our lives. You also wonder if the path of most resistance isn’t a catalyst for greater growth. The more we have to work, the more our skill and strength develop.

Peter took the hard way. When Jesus told him to come out on the water, Peter had a choice: I can stay in the boat and play it safe, or I can take the impossible road along side of Jesus. As long as Peter kept his gaze fixed on Jesus, he was okay. The moment he looked away, he began to falter. In our lives we are to look toward Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. When we do that, our “ways will be sure.” The Hebrew connotation implies that our way will be “established, aimed, and prepared for us with provisions ready.”

It is easy to be either distracted by “things,” or to become comfortable with where we are in Jesus. It’s easier to stay home than go to church; to scratch the surface rather than go deeper in worship; to “veg out” rather than force ourselves to grow. It is easier to hold on to anger than to forgive; to fight than to make peace; to give in to what our sin nature craves than walk in the Spirit. This Proverb gives us specific direction in how to walk through life: we keep our gaze fixed directly in front of us while giving careful thought to our paths. Some people go through life with a “that-just-always-happens-to-me” attitude. I don’t want life to happen to me, I want to intentionally happen to life! I believe that God is calling us to go deeper into Him this year. This will require an act of faith from every person in our church: will we stay in the boat, or attempt the impossible as Jesus directs us? If He is inviting us out into the impossible, and we keep our gaze fixed on Him, that means He already has our path aimed properly, established in His will, and with full provisions available!

Walking together on the path of most resistance,

Pastor Kyle

*Italicized words are the ESV translation of the Hebrew for this verse, which is more faithful to the original language.