The Right Path

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.

PROVERBS 10:9

IN LIFE, we often have to choose which path to take. Your friends may choose a path you don’t feel comfortable with. Or you may know they’re making smart choices and feel good about going along with them. You may choose to stop taking karate lessons or start taking tae kwon do lessons. You may pick nature and music classes over woodshop and cooking classes. That path really is yours to choose.

So what happens when we—or our friends—begin to veer into wrong choices? What happens when we notice our friends mostly spend their time talking about other people instead of doing fun stuff? Or we see our friends posting questionable videos online and challenging others to do the same? Or when the kids we hang out with start making fun of other kids and even bullying them?

What happens when you know you need to follow a different path than the one your friends are on?

God asks us to look hard at the choices we make and the paths we choose. We may feel conflicted because we still like our friends, even if we don’t agree with what they’re doing. In those moments, we have to follow what God wants. We can’t believe that even though we’re just following along or that we don’t mean any harm that our choices don’t matter. They matter to God. So stay on the right path, even when it’s not the easy one.

DO

Grab pants, a shirt, socks, and shoes. Now get dressed, but put everything on backward and put your shoes on the wrong feet. Now take a walk around your house.

How does it feel when everything is on wrong? How is that like what happens when we know we’re on the wrong path or making wrong choices?

PRAY

Dear God,

Thank you for steering me to the right path through the Bible. Please help me remember that my choices will keep me on the right path if I follow your will. Amen.

READ

Proverbs 16:1-3; 1 John 3:4