2008-05-23 14:36:00
“You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11).
Since Brooksyne’s ankle injury two weeks ago we’ve been missing our customary walks together. (So has our dog Roxie!) On a couple occasions Ester and I pushed her in the wheelchair alongside our country road but it doesn’t compare to walking on an old well-worn path. But the uneven terrain is not suitable for a wheelchair, especially for one with a tender ankle.
Today’s photo [click link below for more daily encouragement to see photo] is my favorite part of our walking path across from our house, an old road between tree lines with farm fields on each side. It’s actually a long abandoned public road still deeded to the township that ends right across from our house where a church meeting house once stood. It can still seen on maps as “Meeting House Run Road”. Presently it’s accessible only with a tractor or four-wheel drive vehicle and that’s just fine with us since we enjoy the solitude of the quiet country setting!
Roxie really loves this part of the walk and often gets very distracted with all the smells of critters buried in the ground or she chases squirrels up the trees. She runs rabbits ragged as she sets about chasing them in and out of burrows, rock piles, and other accessible hiding places.
Scripture in numerous places speaks of the “path of life” with today’s passage being the first. It’s from a Psalm of David, written some 3,000 years ago. In addressing God he asserts, “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
God continues to make known the path of life to those who earnestly seek Him. Today the path of life is the road less travelled since many by default follow the broad road where the majority travel.
There are several references to the path of life in the Proverbs such as “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction” and “The path of life leads upward for the wise.”
But the final reference to the “path of life” in Scripture may surprise you. Peter quotes several verses from Psalm 16 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost concluding with the daily verse, “You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence” (Acts 2:28). He makes it clear that ultimately in this Psalm David was referring to Jesus Christ as the path of life! Of course Jesus Himself tells us, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I thank God for making known to me the path of life through the person of Jesus Christ, His Son! What a great joy and blessing to follow Him. And that’s something we all can do regardless of where we live. Please join us!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: Father, I consider today the path of life laid out for those who are wise. It certainly isn’t the shortest, most traveled, or least difficult trail. There are times when the incline may be so steep it forces me on all fours, but that’s a posture in which I’m most humbled. It forces me to kneel down before You, the Lord my Maker. Your strength is perfect when my strength is fleeting. It is a place where I realize it is no longer my strength but it is in Your perfect strength that I walk. It is no longer my plan but Your perfect plan that I follow. It is no longer my wisdom but Your perfect wisdom that instructs me. You give perfect direction and adequate strength to walk the upward path that leads to life everlasting. Thank You that I will never walk the path of life alone, for You lead the way as You make my feet like hind’s feet on high places. Amen.
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