When I think of an old path, I think of the two-track going down to the river at the end of the road on which I used to live. It twisted and turned, went uphill and down, and sometimes nearly disappeared in the weeds. There are lots of old paths in the woods near that river. Some of them used to be well-traveled roads, about a hundred years ago. But now the bridge over the river is gone, and the path that used to be a highway for horse-drawn wagons can hardly be seen in the tall, wispy grass.
In modern days, we have all but forgotten those old paths. Similarly, we have departed from many old ways of doing things. We drive cars instead of horses. We use machines instead of hand tools. Computers and other electronics, as well as our means of transportation, make our lives so different from the lives of people in the past that much of what was done in the past seems irrelevant. Many people would say that all the new ways of doing things are better than the old ways because they are easier and faster than the old ways.
But all paths go somewhere, whether they are old and forgotten, or newly cut. We know where the old paths led. We have yet to discover where all the new paths will lead. Life is not static. At the end of every path is a destination.
Paths, as well as any other roads, can be wide or narrow, safe or treacherous, stable or unstable. They can be well-traveled or less-traveled, busy or lonely. They can be dark or light, obscured or illuminated. The nature of the path defines the experience of the journey.
Someone once said, "Success is a journey, not a destination." This would be true if everyone's destination were the same, if all roads really did lead "to Rome," or if we were all God's children and we all ended up in Heaven, and if there were no hell. But God's Word, the Bible, says in Matthew 7:13 and 14: ". . .[W]ide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait [confined] is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." If we believe that the Bible is God's Word, we must believe that success in life involves choosing a path that leads to a desired destination. While the quality of the journey is important, it is also important to choose a path in life that is not a dead-end. One path may lead to another, and there may be switchbacks, but ultimately whatever path we choose should ascend a mountain and end on a pinnacle in the clouds of heaven, instead of descending finally into the pit of eternal doom.
It matters what path we take. Dead-end paths waste travel time. Dark paths cause accidents. If a traveler fails to look at a trustworthy map before setting out on any path or road, or does not believe or follow the map, he will likely not end up in the right place.
Life does not "just happen" to any of us. Our lives are the records of a series of choices, a series of paths we have traveled. The old paths, the paths of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, are the paths we should constantly study. We should learn from them which ways are direct and sure, and which ways are to be avoided. We also need to know what to do after we have accidentally stumbled onto the wrong path. Where are we going? Whom are we following? How do we get from Point A to Point B?
"In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:6
"For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." Proverbs 6:23
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
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