Pathways, we are on them everyday. Some seem like they are a continuation, others are new. How do we decide on a pathway? Do we go with what feels right, trusting in our gut? Or do we take a little time and think about the implications of that path through prayer and asking for guidance? Sometimes there isn’t time to wait, do I make a lane change now or miss my opportunity to be on time? This week’s scriptures are reminding us to be prepared in all that we do. All decisions are linked, be thoughtful, be aware, be prayerful.
Proverbs 9:1-6 1)Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; 2)She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table; 3)She has sent out her maidens, she calls from the tops of the heights of the city: 4)”Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks understanding she says, 5)”Come, eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6)”Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding.” Would you feel that you have been invited to this call? None of us is all knowing, an opportunity to know more would be beneficial. Here when She calls, she asks you to forsake your folly and proceed in the way of understanding. Can you hear the voice of God?
Psalm 34:9-14 9)O fear the LORD, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want. 10)The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. 11)Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12)Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? 13)Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14)Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15)The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. 16)The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
Ephesians 5:15-20 15)Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16)making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17)So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18)And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19)speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20)always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; The pathways we chose, they are important. The pathways we chose, have knowledge of the Word.
John 6:51-58 51)”I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” 52)Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53)So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54)”He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55)”For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56)”He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. Now I can see the confusion here, I mean it is a rather difficult concept to understand. It makes sense that in the literal way, it would be scarce thing that only one person would go so far, but besides that, how is this going to work? Sometimes we are asked to place our trust in something that we don’t understand, that makes no sense in our worldly understanding. God and His Son are right here, yet we may feel that there is a vast distance between us. Just like Jesus’s words here, My body and My blood given to you. Only through this may you return to the Father. When we commune, we return to the Father through His Son, does it feel real when you come up for communion?
So much to do in this life, stay on the path of Christ. Live with kindness, love, boldly in the Word, for it is up to us to make the difference. We are on a path, the pathway that God has seen to it that we are on. It isn’t random, it is purposeful. Do a little prayer time on that, God will reveal to you the work that he has for you. Look for those opportunities, listen to what is happening, search for ways to serve.
Through Christ, Seek God,
D.J. Schoneweis