Proverbs 4:15 “avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on”
The first time I ever really ran away from home I would have been around seven or eight years old. I was at primary school and somehow I knew about a ruined house with a large garden that was around a twenty-minute walk from the school. In those days the school gates were open, no one was watching and kids went home often for lunch.
So at lunchtime, I went as if going to the shops but just kept going to this abandoned house. I don’t actually think I was “running away” as much as exploring. The area had large thick walls, broken down in many areas, the rubble of a ruined house and small patches of bushes and trees thick and overgrown.
I spent the afternoon climbing in the trees and using my imagination to have adventures. It was a sunny day, warm and still. I played for hours on my own.
At one point I went out of the ruin and was running around the outside on the pavement, running around the corner I saw my dad, and mum and the headmaster all getting out of a car. They all had their backs to me and did not see me.
I came to a shuddering stop, froze for a millisecond then turned and fled back to the garden and hid in the bushes. My mum appeared first in the garden of the ruined house and she could easily see my bright school clothes. She came over close to the bushes and trees and called me to come out. Which slowly I did.
I was hustled away then in the car, back home.
I don’t remember much of what happened after that, I don’t think I was punished really, it was just a youthful expression of an adventure, without really thinking it through. I think reading Tom Sawyer, The Famous Five, and The Secret Seven had somehow birthed in me the desire to write my own story of adventure. I had not really thought through how I would survive overnight, and so it was not a good decision to do this then, especially when I think now of the worry I would have caused my parents and the teachers.
KNOWLEDGE
The emphasis is building, and here in this short scripture we have four directives – don’t go near it, don’t step onto it, get far away from it, and keep moving away from it. The “it” in question is of course the “path of the wicked” from the previous verse. Out of the 106 verses we have explored so far, there are at least 44 that carry health warnings – for our physical, emotional, mental and physical health.
There is an intensity about this scripture that is reaching for our attention – I imagine the tone of the voice carrying passion and compassion ………listen, please listen, please understand how important this is, please don’t rush past this, don’t assume you already have all this sorted, don’t miss the direction, decisiveness, deliberation, and delight that are compressed into the subtext of this short writing.
On medicine bottles, it often is written: “complete the course”. There is a danger that once we start to feel ok we stop taking the medicine, and make a small decision in haste that we can regret over a longer period. As we read this scripture, let’s all agree to take the medicine and to complete the course.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
“avoid” in Hebrew is pronounced “para” and this word appears eight times in the Old Testament. In the ESV it is translated into the English words, loose; unbind; act sinfully; ignored; neglect; and, go back. The literal meaning in this setting is “to take the lead”. So we see that we are to be intentional in the things we do not take part in, not passive or by chance.
WISDOM: when you examine your life today, are there areas to avoid, stop going to, remove yourself from, and keep the momentum of moving away? Ask the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and to help you make great choices from this moment forwards, no matter how tough they seem.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Analytical asks the right people the right questions at the right time. Imagine a Spirit-led version of this partnered with Achiever? The theme dynamics of understanding and accomplishing.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – [take the lead in withdrawing, so you do not pass over, cross over or travel through, in fact deliberately go astray from this, and again do not pass over, cross over or travel through (the path of the wicked).]
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Please help me today to be very intentional in regards to my decisions in life, so that they are all focused on listening/hearing you. Thank you!
I so love feedback – please do scroll down and use a few moments to bless me?
Thanks again. The love of our Father who really wants what’s best for us with warnings and gentle spiritual prompts is what keeps us staying the path. We need to listen with ears listening and our eyes wide open. Amen
Thanks Ps Allan.
I love your wisdom thought. It’s so good how we can ask the holy spirit to help us to make the right choices. No matter what season we are in and how tough it is, the holy spirit is always present
I like the warnings that are designed to protect our whole person, physical, emotional, spiritual, relational. We just have to ve obedient to the Holy Spirit.
Love your imagination and adventurous spirit as a child.
Love your strength thought and Allan’s version.
Great encouragement to be intentional with every decision.
Also love the challenge of your wisdom thought.
There are areas in my life today that I need to be intentional about the choices I make.
I continue to ask the holy spirit to guide me in my daily disitions. So I stay the path and walk towards the promise God has for me
To add to todays prayer: please help me Lord to put you first in everything that I do. To give me the confidence to be intentional in doing your will and not mine. In Jesus’s Mighty Name I pray. Amen.
Thanks Pastor Allan once again for your encouragement through the scriptures!
God is giving me repeated warnings again in this scripture to stay on guard & continue in my daily discipline of seeking Him & so being intentional to avoid making wrong choices in my life. What might appear so right in my natural understanding might well be totally contrary to what God has in mind for me for He knows the beginning to the end. In saying that I don’t always get everything right but for the big decisions it’s so important to seek wise Godly counsel. Here again I sense the deep love of Our Heavenly Father whose whole heart & intent is to protect & guide His beloved children. Training my thoughts & directly my focus to be heavenward is my saving compass to keep me healthy in every aspect of my life.
A good reminder to keep walking straight. Not to swerve to the left or to the right.
Just straight ahead!
Very often we find ourselves struggling and regretting making wrong decisions that seriously affect our mind and body. We are taught to take the consequences of straying away from the right path very seriously and to remove ourselves from walking into these situations before they destroy us.
I pray for wisdom to recognise and avoid these pitfalls in my daily life, that I may know the peace that comes with listening to His voice.
Pastor Alan when I read the first paragraph about going to an old ruin house all on your own (8years old😱) I don’t care if I read Tim sawyer or the famous five (not happening), it seems that your life was filled with sooooo much excitement and adventures,and sorrow , and I can really relate to a lot of what has happened in yor life and I soooo glad that Jesus has inspired you to right this amazing book👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽😉
I love your wisdom thought Allan and how you always push my thinking and constantly have me reflecting on myself and life behaviours through your insight on scripture.
I believe for me it’s not so much asking the Holy Spirit to help me make wise choices in life but having faith and trusting His direction.
Amen! Thank you Ps Allan for sharing your story. Blessings 🙏