ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS

Old Paths

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the OLD PATHS, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  But they said, We will not walk therein.  Jeremiah 6:16

 God says “STAND ye in the ways, and see….”  See what, we might ask.  Just what is it that God wants us to see in the way?  Perhaps, He wants us to see and ponder the ways, or paths, that we as Christians are following today.  Sadly, God’s people no longer live as though we have been called out.  God desires for himself a peculiar people.

For thou are an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.  Deuteronomy 14:2. 

One definition of peculiar is DISTINCT FROM ALL OTHERS.  What is it about me that makes me DISTINCT or different from those that are not Christians?  Is it my language?  Is it my witness?  Is it my concern for others?  Is it the stand that I take against sin?  What is for you friend?  What makes YOU different?  In other words, what PATH are you on.

Many years ago I had a fellow work for me that was very vulgar and crude in his speech and actions.  One particular Saturday morning I was in my office getting some work done and was listening to some preaching on tape.  The man preaching was my youth director in the church I grew up in.  To my surprise, the fellow that worked for me came into the office and said “that sounds like….and he said the preachers name”.  I was shocked.  I asked him how he knew the preacher.  To further my shock and disappointment, he told me he had grown up at my church and school (he was older than I) and that this preacher was one of his heroes.  I told this fellow that I would never have known he was a Christian by his speech and actions.  He hung his head and acknowledged that he was away from the Lord. 

How about you?  Do you walk the same paths that your co-workers walk?  Do you revel in the dirty jokes that they tell?  Do you jump on their wagon when they are criticizing their spouse?  Do you sneak off to take a cell phone call when nobody’s looking, while on the clock?  Do you backbite and spew hateful stories about your co-workers?  Do you walk such a path that you could, without embarrassment, introduce your co-workers to your best friend, Jesus?  O, the twisted paths we walk! 

In the first verse we looked at we see that were are to ASK for the old paths.  Standing in the way we see all the wickedness of compromise within our Christian Family and we are to ask, I AM ASKING YOU, to follow the old paths!  We will explore the OLD PATHS in other posts.  Lord Bless You All!