“¹⁶O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! ¹⁷Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.” – Isaiah 38:16-17 (ESV)

Hezekiah had fallen sick and after confirming his fate with Isaiah he turned and earnestly pleaded with God for his life. God heard him and through His great love, delivered Hezekiah from death.

There are two parts of this story that I believe are key: 1) Hezekiah pleaded earnestly and 2) God’s love.

When Hezekiah learned of his fate, he gave everything to God knowing that only God could save him. He was repentant and pleaded with deep reverence for God, who heard him. God’s great love for Hezekiah made it so He would spare his life.

We have opportunities each day to earnestly believe in the power of God and He has a love for each of us that He wants to display on His people.

Are you pleading earnestly to God for deliverance? Are you allowing God to do His work? Are you looking to the love of God to deliver your life?

“²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” – Proverbs 21:21 (ESV)

What is it in this world that we are pursuing, wealth, power, control? We are chasing the wrong things. Those items only lead to ruin. Look at the ultimate fate of Caesar.

Instead, we should be actively seeking righteousness and we will find it as well as life more closely aligned with Christ.

Will this righteousness lead to wealth, maybe not in the monetary sense. Will it lead to power, not in the sense of ruling over others. Will it lead to control, not to the extent of everyone bowing to you.

It will however lead to wisdom and honor. These of which give comfort that the choices and decision we make are sound. With those sound decisions are more powerful than we know. They give us wealth, enough to live. They give us power, to sustain when attacked by the world. They give us control, to follow more closely in the footsteps of Christ.

What are you chasing? What have you experienced as a result of your pursuits? Are you willing to pursue righteousness to find life?

“³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.” – Proverbs 11:30 (ESV)

When we are working to follow the life of Christ, we find ourselves in a position to attract others to Christ.

I think of sitting on the back porch on a calm summer evening. You sit just observing and listening and to your amazement you see a flickering light there in the yard. You start looking for it, and it alludes your eye until you catch it to your left, but only for a moment. Then again to your right. Soon you are calm yourself and see them one by one appear in front of you, tens of them. You find yourself calming even more and drawn to enjoyment of the beauty of the firefly.

I envision us as beacons of light that draw in others. We are those fireflies minding our own business, doing the work of God. When suddenly others are captivated at what it is that we have and offer. A calmness of ourselves that elicits a calmness for others.

When you are out in the world, are you bringing calm? Are you being the light for others? Is your life capturing lives for Christ?

“³²And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. ³³Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. ³⁴Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. ³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, ³⁶But he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.” – Proverbs 8:32-36 (ESV)

This passage is spoken from the perspective of Wisdom, as is all of Proverbs 8.

When we are heeding Wisdom, we are blessed, find favor from the Lord, and find life (ESV Commentary).

So what does it look like to find life? Well, we are no longer looking for where we belong. We are able to proceed with purpose. We end up making fewer damaging choices. We are able to move forward instead of looking back to see if something is going to catch up with us.

I look for ways to move on and not dwell on things from before. Wisdom gives me that freedom. I will be able to proceed with confidence and remove worry.

Where are you as relates to Wisdom? Are you able to look forward with purpose? Are you finding Wisdom leads to your finding life?

“²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him with her smooth talk she compels him. ²²All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or a stag is caught fast ²³till an arrow pierces it liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.” – Proverbs 7:21-23 (ESV)

Falling for the temptation will lead to destruction. It is up to us to stay on the right path.

What is that right path? Well I believe that we know that one and so does the temptress. We are to stick to the light and avoid the shadows. Avoid the little things that lead to bigger things. Each of the “little” things of their own are not much and we are able to resist or work past them. But, those “little” things we are able to work past give us confidence to take on “bigger” more tempting things and we find ourselves less likely to resist. I know that I am human and certainly am not strong enough to resist.

The only way that I have been able to resist is to avoid completely. I had a scenario play out at the office where I was completely in the dark about something. I went to chat and congratulate someone for something and found that someone else was involved as well. I was taken aback as I had known each of them for about 2 years and how did I not know. The person said to me “because you are not up in everyone’s business around here”.

How much do we get into that makes no difference in our lives? How much should we just avoid and get on with what matters? How much should we just stay on the right path?

“²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. ²³For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,” – Proverbs 6:20 & 23 (ESV)

I encourage reading of the full passage of Proverbs 6:20-35 as it is a great passage to teach us more about how passion gets in the way of rational thought. I want to focus on the passage above as a starter to how to get through life.

I have titled this study, “Way of Life: Commands, Teachings, and Discipline”. I truly believe that this is a great way to progress through this life on earth.

We have been given parents, teacher, mentors, elders, and others in this world that have lived life already. Real people that have made mistakes and recovered, or learned from the mistakes of others and they provide wisdom for us to absorb as we walk through life. They have experienced it already and bring to us the consequences of actions to contemplate prior to taking action ourselves.

Why do we still choose to try it ourselves? Because we are human and we learn by doing. That is the only reason I can think of aside from our arrogance and stubbornness to believe that we know better.

As parents ourselves, I know that there are areas that we have failed to teach our sons. We cannot remember to command and teach all things, but we can them discipline to minimize the damage that comes with the mistakes they will make as they learn on their own.

What are some of the things that you may have learned that you have failed to heed? Where are you able to get back to by looking back at some of the commands from those with experience? Are you able to get back on the way of life through those commands, teachings, and discipline?

“¹Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! ²It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! ³It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” – Psalm 133:1-3 (ESV)

Can you imagine a world where all “dwell in unity”? Imagine a healthy respect for one another. Imagine love for each other.

I have seen the bumper stickers of the word “coexist” written in symbols of different religions. Where I may not fully understand what that means in the hearts of others, I can apply it to the idea of dwelling in unity. A world where we would love one another and work together for the common cause of spreading the gospel. We have to be careful not to believe that we will always get along and agree with one another on all items, however our purpose should be something that we all should agree. Isn’t that our task as laid out by God in Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission)?

And when we are in unity with our purpose and carrying out God’s plan, then we are blessed by God with “life forevermore”. Our lives are blessed when we are working for the greatness of God. When we are working together to bring God to the people, we are fulfilling our end of the agreement and God will uphold His.

Are you working with your fellow man in unity of purpose? Are you experiencing the blessings of God? Are you receiving “life forevermore” as we “dwell in unity” with our fellow man?

We find ourselves at an interesting place on Monday mornings when we get to the office. The water cooler crew has gathered and the gossip begins. We have a choice, join in, or search for something good.

 “¹¹Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹²What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? ¹³Keep your tongue from evil and you lips from spreading deceit. ¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” – Psalm 34:11-14 (ESV)

I wonder how many of us really think of the water cooler as a place to walk away from. It is our duty to seek good, and when conversing at the water cooler is it always good that comes from it?

The example of Christ is one of love and goodness. When we are standing around the water cooler, things may not always be aimed at love a goodness. There is the chat related to what someone is wearing. The discussion of what someone got caught doing over the weekend. And then there is the celebrations of the team victory on Saturday. Now all of these are not evil and deceitful, but 67% are not bringing the love and goodness of Christ.

The love and goodness that we feel and experience on Sundays should be extended throughout the work week with everyone we come in contact with. We should be the example of Christ at every turn.

I will say that it is not and will not be easy. And, we will likely slip up on occasion. But I will also say that we are human and nowhere near perfect. Our slip ups, and I mean those that are truly slip ups, when they happen will be forgiven when we have a repentant heart. Our heart is at the center of it all and our repentant heart allows for our imperfections.

What if we took the attitude of Christ we lived on Sunday morning and spread that at the water cooler? What if the love and goodness shown to us were something that we showed to others? What if our life with Christ was all day, every day?

We are to follow God through our lives and continue doing His work as we go. And in return:

“⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23:6 (ESV)

Chapter 23 of Psalms is a prayer quoted over and over again. This verse is the last in the chapter and brings home the point that God is right with us throughout the entire journey. We are doing work for Him, and that work can be/is dangerous. We are to persevere through it and know that God is there to protect us and provide for us. Our final reward is that we get to live with Him forever.

What a great promise for us to remember. When we have finished the race, God will be there providing a place of rest in heaven. But while we are working for Him, He provides goodness and mercy for our journey.

When you think of your journey, where do you place God? Are you working for Him knowing that he is there always? Are you aware of the goodness and mercy that follows you everywhere?

“¹¹You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is a fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

Before travelling to a new place, I spend some time looking at a map to understand the direction, and path I am going to take. Sure I could let my phone or GPS tell me which way to go when I get there, but would I truly “know” the path or simply travel on it.

When relying on another entity to direct you, our attention to the journey is lost as we only focus on the destination. The first part of verse 11 above says that God makes the “path of life” known, not the destination. God gives us the path for the journey and is present on the path and in his presence we experience joy and pleasure.

In today’s world, we have technology and speed to get us somewhere (phones, GPS, automobiles, planes). Shouldn’t we take some time to enjoy the journey of life in the presence of our God?

When you think about life, are you aware of the path or focused on the destination? Are you able to enjoy the journey in the presence of God?