Perspective: Two Paths

Developed from a Sunday School lesson delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church in West Greenville, South Carolina on September 11, 2011.¹

I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to someone else.

Two Paths

Scripture:

Your word is a lamp before my feet
and a light for my journey.

Psalm 119:105 (CEB)

Forgive me now 'cause I have been unfaithful
Don't ask me why 'cause I don't know
So many times I've tried but was unable
This heart belongs to You alone

Now I'm in our secret place
Alone in Your embrace
Where all my wrongs have been erased
You have forgiven

From "Forgiven" by Skillet

At the very beginning of the Bible is story about the first two human beings, Adam and Eve. In this story God gives them the beautiful Garden of Eden to tend and to enjoy. God also gives them a choice. In the middle of the garden are two trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the Tree of Life, they will live forever. On the other hand, if they eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge as God has forbidden them, they will gain an understanding of evil.

Adam and Eve choose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and they end up paying dearly for it. God drives them out of the Garden of Eden, and, because they are denied access to the Tree of Life, they will eventually die. Worse yet, their actions expose not only humanity, but the whole world to evil.²

Toward the middle of the Bible is a book of wisdom called Proverbs. Common themes in this book are the difference between the ways of the wise and the ways of the foolish and the difference between righteous people and wicked people. The Book of Proverbs consistently shows us that the ways of the good, the wise, and the just lead to prosperity, while the ways of the wicked, the foolish, and the corrupt lead to ruin. Consider the following examples:

Those who do right
are saved by their righteousness,
but the untrustworthy
are caught by their own desires.³

A slanderer walks around
revealing secrets,
but a trustworthy person
keeps a confidence.⁴

The lazy have strong desires
but receive nothing;
the appetite of the diligent
is satisfied.⁵

Poverty and shame come to those
who don’t care about instruction;
honor belongs to those
who heed correction.⁶

Later in the Bible, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Go in through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people enter through it. But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it."⁷

Throughout Scripture, we are taught that there is more than one way to live - that there is more than one path through this life. We are also taught that it is up to us to choose which path we will take through life. It has been said, "We make our choices, and then our choices make us." The path a person chooses to follow will, in turn, shape the person he or she will become. Some paths are wise and other paths are foolish. Some paths are life-affirming, and other paths are destructive. Some paths lead us to God, and other paths lead us away from God.

It is my belief that God wants only what is best for all of us and nothing else. Because of this, we can always trust in God to lead us on the path we should follow if we will only take His hand and follow Him. We can trust God to show us the path that will shape us into the people He truly created us to be.

Unfortunately, we all have weaknesses that burden us, and we all have demons that haunt us. As the old adage goes, "Nobody's perfect." Jesus wasn't kidding when He said that the path to life is difficult. It seems as though no matter how hard we try to follow the path on which God is leading us, there are things that trip us up and lead us astray. Time and time again - perhaps on a daily basis - we stumble on the path that leads to life and veer into the path that leads to destruction. Years ago, I heard a prayer that illustrates this point well:
So far today, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped. I haven't lost my temper. I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed; and from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot more help.⁸

It is important to remember that even if we lose our way and end up on a destructive path, we do not have to stay on this path forever. We can always turn around and return to the path of life.

Jesus, on the evening before He was executed, ate supper with His disciples. That evening, He broke some bread and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you." He also gave His disciples a cup of wine, saying, "This cup is the new covenant by my blood, which is poured out for you." Jesus asked His disciples to break bread together and to share a cup of wine together to remember Him.⁹

I think that one reason that Jesus wants us to share the bread and the wine is because this act helps to bring us back to the path of life to which God has called us. Every so often, churches will observe this very act, commonly known as Holy Communion. Typically churches observe it once every month or once every quarter of a year; however, theologian John Wesley recommended that people share in Holy Communion at least once every week. I think that Wesley realized that we constantly stumble and deviate from the path of life.

In my church, at the beginning of the Holy Communion service, we confess that we have not been obedient to God and that we have not loved God and other people as we should have. Throughout the Communion service we are reminded that by God's grace we are forgiven for our failures. When we share the bread and the wine, we remember that Christ's body was broken and that Christ's blood was shed that we might be reconciled to God. By confessing our shortcomings and by experiencing God's grace anew, we return to the path that leads to life.

Of course we don't have to wait for a Holy Communion service to realign ourselves with God: this is something we should do every day. One way to align ourselves with God and with the path to life is studying the Scriptures. To the Israelite leader Joshua, God said, "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."¹⁰ On the same subject, one ancient poet wrote:

How can young people
keep their paths pure?
By guarding them
according to what You’ve said.
I have sought You with all my heart.
Don’t let me stray
from any of Your commandments!
I keep Your word close, in my heart,
so that I won’t sin against You.¹¹

Another way to align ourselves with God is through prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promises that if we ask God for guidance, we will receive it. He says, "Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened."¹² St. Paul found prayer so important that he encouraged one church to "pray continually."¹³

Two paths lie before you: one path that leads to life and another path that leads to ruin. May you choose the path that leads to life, and may God bless you on it. If you have strayed from this path and ended up on the path to ruin, may you realize that it is not too late to turn around and return to the path where God is leading you. May you realize that God is always there to lead you as you journey through this life.



Notes:
1 - The original basis for the Sunday School lesson was:
Simon Peter Iredale. "From Generation to Generation", Adult Bible Studies Fall 2010. Cokesbury. pp. 13-19
This perspective is developed from elements I added to the original lesson.
2 - For the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, see Genesis 2-3.
3 - Proverbs 11:6 (CEB)
4 - Proverbs 11:13 (CEB)
5 - Proverbs 13:4 (CEB)
6 - Proverbs 13:18 (CEB)
7 - Matthew 7:13-14 (CEB)
8 - http://www.oneliners-and-proverbs.com/engels/D_d.html
9 - For one account of the Last Supper, see Luke 22:14-20. (CEB quoted)
10 - Joshua 1:8 (TNIV)
11 - Psalm 119:9-11 (CEB)
12 - Matthew 7:7-8 (CEB)
13 - 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (CEB)

The photograph featured in this perspective was taken by me at Table Rock State Park in Pickens, South Carolina.


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.