God's Path to Freedom
Proverbs 4:10-13 NKJV
10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
Happy 250th birthday, America! I believe this country has been blessed of the Lord and is still the greatest country on earth! I am obviously biased, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!
With each celebration of America, we always hear something about the freedom in our nation. Many men and women have paid a price for us to enjoy the freedoms we have. We can worship, choose our leaders, and pursue the dreams of our hearts without being dictated to by a king or military government.
There is another kind of freedom that is promised to us in the Scriptures. It's the same type of freedom Jesus mentioned when He stated that the truth would make us free. The caveatwas that we had to follow Him by staying in line with His words. Then we would know the truth, and the truth would make us free from sin and the darkness in the world. In our verses for today, we see the emphasis on the wisdom and instruction found in God's Word. This wisdom and instruction is God's truth. His truth is His path to freedom.
The setting of this Proverbs chapter is of a father speaking to his son. The father is encouraging the son to pay attention to wisdom and instruction. The father even goes as far as sayingthat wisdom is the principal thing, so get wisdom. Without a stretch, we can apply these father-to-son instructions of Proverbs to our life with our Father God today. If anyone has wisdom that produces life and freedom, it's our Heavenly Father.
God's Word, His wisdom, will add years to our lives. The way of God's wisdom is always going to be the right path. His wisdom in our lives causes our steps to be unhindered and the ability to run our race without stumbling and falling. So, once again, the instruction of wisdom is to hold onto it and not let go. There is life, strength and freedom in keeping God's Word and ways. His wisdom produces good in our lives, never darkness and destruction.
Application
These verses remind me of the instructions found in 2 Peter. Peter admonishes the church to add virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to their lives. The ultimate aim of adding these characteristics to our lives is that they make us fruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. And the person who does these things will not stumble. That's freedom. But as in our own country, the path to spiritual freedom for us individually is not the easy route. No one ever said walking God's way is the easiest path. But it's certainly the best path. Freedom is not easy. But freedom is worth the cost.
Prayer
Thank You Lord for the freedom we have in America. And thank You for instructing me in Your ways of freedom. I purpose to walk on that path.