Readings for today: Psalms 25-27, Acts 20:17-38
Many years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to take a trek through the jungles in northern Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Early in the morning, the runners go out to find the more than twenty pods of gorillas in the forest. They radio back to the guides who then take small groups of people into the forest to spend about an hour with the gorillas. There are no trails. The path has to be hacked out of the wildness by machete. Armed guards come with you to make sure you stay safe in case you run across elephants or Cape buffalo. After about two hours, it became clear to us that our guides were a bit lost. The gorillas were not where they were supposed to be. The section of the forest we found ourselves in was not familiar to them. So they wisely stopped, reconnected with the runners from the morning, and then began hacking out a new path in a new direction that eventually put us right in the middle of a gorilla pod where we got to spend the next two hours watching them eat and play. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
I thought about that trip when I read these words from Psalm 25:10 this morning…“All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10) All God’s ways are marked by steadfast love and faithfulness. All God’s ways are marked by grace and peace. A great test of whether I am on the righteous path or not is to evaluate where I stand in relation to these things. Are my “paths” marked by anxiety or fear? Are my paths marked by anger or outrage? Are my paths marked by scorn or ridicule or disdain? Are my paths marked by hatred and violence? Or are my paths marked by unresolved hurt or pain? Are my paths marked by unforgiveness and toxicity? Are my paths marked by foolishness or pride? You see, if I am not careful I can easily stray off the path. I am prone to wander off the trail Christ has marked out for me. And when I do, I invite all kinds of heartache and heartburn into my life. But if I keep my eyes on Jesus. If I commit to walking in His footsteps. Doing life His way. Loving those He loves. Serving those He serves. Then my days will be marked by grace and peace. Steadfast love and faithfulness. For this is where ALL the paths of the Lord lead.
Friends, God walks in steadfast love. God’s love is kind and patient. It does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. God’s love keeps no record of wrongs. It does not grow irritable or resentful. It never rejoices in wrongdoing or falsehood or deceit but always rejoices with the truth. God’s love believes all things. Hopes all things. Endures all things. God’s love never fails. And those who commit to walk in God’s ways should expect to experience such love themselves as well as have a desire to extend such love to others.
God walks in faithfulness. He never leaves or abandons or betrays or walks away from us. He is never unavailable, never closed off, never dismissive of our concerns. He is faithful to the faithless. A father to the fatherless. A savior for sinners. And those who commit to walk in God’s ways will also lead lives marked by such faithfulness. They will trod these same paths. They will find themselves taking the hard, narrow way of continual self-denial that leads to glory rather than the easy, wide way of self-gratification that leads to destruction. In short, as we read yesterday, they will find themselves being led on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Sadly, the reality is I am prone to wander. I too easily lose sight of where I am going. I too quickly abandon the paths of righteousness in order to blaze a trail on my own. When I do, I end up crashing through the bamboo. Bushwhacking through the wilderness. Getting lost in uncharted territory. I too easily place my trust in blind guides. I too often listen to foolish voices. I too often follow faithless leaders. This includes myself for I am just as blind and foolish and faithless as the next person! Thankfully, the good news of the gospel is that when I confess my sin, God is faithful and just to forgive me, take me by the hand, and lead me back on His paths.
Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 28-30, Acts 21:1-16