Tag: path

Posted in Life

What’s in the distance?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

How many times in life have you wished you could see farther down the path?

We plan out a day or a few weeks. Maybe a year on a good day.

But we really have little long range vision. The path is murky off in the distance. The mist is dense. Thick.

I can’t see what bends in the road are ahead. I can’t see where the road ends. I don’t know how long the trip will be. There might be a wall just ahead. Or a sinkhole. Maybe a river. Did the bridge washed out? Maybe there’s a herd of sheep on the road. Or another car will come out of nowhere right towards you on this one lane road.

Or maybe it will be a long, uneventful ride for a while.

You never know.

So what do you do?

You live today. You notice the stone fences. The fields. The ruts left by so many before you. Animals off to the side.

Sometimes the fog clears. You can see for miles ahead. And it looks great. Or you see the obstacles. Traffic. Who knows?

So you drive. You live. You’re grateful. You’re cautious. You’re hopeful. You’re __________ (fill in the blank).

You never know.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The right path

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 1. Yes, we made it to the middle of the bible, the psalms. Lots of good stuff to come.

The contrast in Psalm 1 is clear: the way of sinners and the way of the righteous. Which would you choose?

The psalmist describes the blessed as those who avoid “the counsel of the wicked,” “the way of sinners,” and “the seat of scoffers.” And yet, those are the very things we choose over and above “the law of the Lord.”

Let me explain. We take advice from anyone out there on social media. We go along with the crowd even if we’re not sure we should. We scoff, mock, and speak derisively about anyone at the drop of a hat.

Guess which way we too often choose?

I don’t think we even realize how often we head down “the way of the wicked” (Psalm 1:6). I don’t think we realize what path we’re on until we’re a few miles down the road. And then when things aren’t working out so well, we wonder what went wrong.

So I guess the question is, how do I stay on the right path?

It’s the word. Delighting in it. Meditating on it. Drenched in it. Smothered in it. Infused. Smothered. Surrounded.

As many productivity gurus will tell you, it’s not habits or discipline, but the systems we have in place. A regular rhythm of devotion, prayer, and worship steers us a different direction than the influences around us. The Old Testament is filled with those worship rhythms, festivals, and feasts, leading God’s people down the path of life.

What systems do you have in place? What systems keep you on the right path?