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‘Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.’ (Proverbs 4:14-19)

Move along, move along, nothing to see here

Now, when the Bible says something we must sit up and listen. When the Bible says something again…and again…and again…we really need to obey, and right now. Solomon doesn’t leave much leeway here: ‘Do not enter…do not walk…avoid it; do not go on it, turn away from it and pass on.’ – do you get the feeling he doesn’t want us over there with the wicked? As Christians, we shouldn’t need any more convincing than simply reading the Bible; if there’s anything you’re messing with that you shouldn’t: stop it. Solomon doesn’t start this by saying ‘I know it’s hard, but…’ or, ‘If you can possibly manage it…’ he simply says: ‘Don’t’. What do you need to avoid?

For…

The Bible likes logic, which is a good thing. I can’t think of any Bible commands that we’re given without any context or reason for doing them, and here is no exception. We should avoid everything related to evil not because God’s mean and wants to spoil our fun, we should avoid it because it’s bad for us! Wicked people will go out of their way to trip us up and hurt us. They don’t care how we get hurt, so long as we get hurt. And it would seem that the old saying ‘you are what you eat’ is true: people who walk the path of the wicked take in wickedness, violence and darkness, and turn into violent, wicked people stumbling around in darkness hoping to inflict that on anyone else. Nothing about this scenario is good; what are you letting into your mind?

There is another way

God loves giving good news, and just like the rest of the Bible story Solomon doesn’t just say ‘stop doing this, it’s bad’, he presents an alternative solution which is infinitely better! The path of the righteous is light! Light is always good: it enables us to see, causes plants to flower and produce oxygen, and prevents us from getting sick. Come on, think about it: what do you need to start to avoid? But don’t just stop there, what can you replace that with?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

Milque-Toast Prayers