The Ways of God
I spent a weekend at Faith Ranch with several friends, volunteering for their fall festival doing various jobs around the ranch. On Sunday, we were able to go horseback riding on one of the trails that span the ranch. While on these trails, I lost sight of the barn, the farmhouse, and any other distinguishable landmarks that could tell me how far away or how close I was from the stables. I just let the guide at the front take me and everyone else through the bushes and trees, always looking for the next turn in the path but only seeing it several yards ahead of me. I had to trust the guide to take everyone around, and ultimately back to the stables and the farmhouse. The path, the trust, and the unknown of that day made me think about our journey to God and our journey in God.
Psalm 25:4-5
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
In this psalm, David lifts praises to God before asking Him to know His ways. “Ways” in this context is talking about action, emotion, and thought. The way one does something, the way one feels, and the way one thinks about life. The way one goes about their life… ‘Living’ really.
The path to God is a hard thing to fathom, but it does not have to be this way.
Just look into the Bible and find what God means by His way, and live it like He did. Let’s look at Psalm 25 again after the previous passage.
Psalm 25:8-10
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
Here we can see the words that describe the way of God: Humility, Righteousness, Steadfast Love, and Faithfulness. Here we can see what it takes to be like God and live in His way, and walk His ‘path’.
This psalm also makes a great observation….God instructs SINNERS! That’s all He does! If you say you are not a sinner, you aren’t being honest….Which is a sin!
Let’s go back to the psalm again:
Psalm 25:12-13
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
Here we can see why we should live in the path, and learn the ways of the Lord. You will have well-being in your life. Comfort like nothing else will be yours if you follow the instruction of God. But how exactly is this done?
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We must follow the example of Jesus, in order to reach the way of God. We must take Jesus as our example of life and God will reward our souls with well-being with Him in Heaven. The path to God is a life spent living like Jesus did. Jesus said He was the life…Can’t that mean He was the only life to reach the full potential of life? I believe so. So why not live as Jesus did and live with humility, righteousness, steadfast love, faithfulness? Being instructed on the ways of the Lord, as a sinner you can live the best life possible by following God’s path through Jesus.
Buzz
