Friday, September 2, 2016

Five Minute Friday - PATH

Five Minute Friday - a free write, which means, as our hostess, Kate Motaung, says, "...no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write."

Wow! A Five Minute Friday post and it's still FRIDAY!!! I can't believe it! Here goes...

This week's prompt is PATH.


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Go!

When I first saw this week's prompt my brain immediately went blank. Absolutely nothing came to mind. 

Within minutes I saw a post on Facebook commemorating J.R.R. Tolkien (he passed away on this date...September 2, 1973). Included in the post was a quote from The Lord of the Rings. In it Pippin was talking to Gandalf. 

Pippin says, "I didn't think it would end this way."

Gandalf returns with, "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take."

There was more to the quote than that, but the word 'path' had caught my attention. After that I went to work and forgot all about it. 

This evening I sat down to do a little Bible reading and in the midst of my 'wisdom search' (the daily reading of a chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with the day of the month on the calendar), there it is again! The word 'path' (and its plural form) appearing multiple times in Proverbs 2. 

From Gandalf's statement above, "...death is just another path..." we can conclude that there is more than one path that a person can travel...but...my question is...does one have a choice of which path to travel? And, if so, does the path that one chooses in life have any bearing on which path they will ultimately travel when the moment arrives that they are catapulted into eternity?

I won't share the entirety of Proverbs Chapter 2 with you, but I do want to focus on the verses that specifically use the word 'path' or its plural. 

Verse 8 tells us that God will keep the paths of judgment and preserve the way of those who receive His words, hide His commandments, incline their ear to wisdom, and apply their heart to understanding.

Verse 9 tells us that if we do those things that, then, we will understand righteousness and judgment and walk in every good path.

In verses 10 through 13 we see that when wisdom enters into our heart and the godly knowledge is pleasant to our soul, that discretion will preserve us and understanding will keep us...that we will be delivered from the way of evil men and from people that speak froward (difficult to deal with) things...from those who leave the paths of righteousness and choose to walk in darkness.

Verse 15 tells us that their ways are crooked and their paths are froward (difficult). 

Is there more than one path in life? You bet there is! And I'm not talking about about some New Age idea of 'many paths that lead to God!' I'm talking about there are two paths in life...the path that leads to an eternity with God (salvation in Christ Jesus...He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life) and the path that leads to eternal separation from God (the way of the world and Satan). 

The path that a person chooses in life most assuredly sets the course for the path that continues after death. Have you thought about which path you are on today? If you died tonight, which path would you find yourself on the other side of eternity?

If you're reading this and find that you're not on the path that you'd like to be on...if you're not traveling the path that leads to eternal life in Christ Jesus, but would like to be, it's not too late!

If you'd like to make a decision to follow Christ, but don't know how, or would simply like someone to pray with you, feel free to contact me. I am here. 

Stop!

All My Love,
~Rebecca