"Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck." Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV
Our lives are full of opportunities to take the easy way out. I have found this to be true throughout my 37 years on this earth and the older I become it seems that the more the temptations increase. Doing the right thing always seems to involve many shades of gray. Things like saving time or simply for the case of being more convenient at the time. I heard an old saying once upon a time, "It is sometimes easier to do the wrong thing, but it is always better to do the right thing." Truer words were never spoken.
I can remember thinking when I was 16 that a "shortcut" that I was going to take through a "backroad" was going to make my trip home shorter and maybe even a little more fun. What happened? A broken driveshaft and a stuck 4X4 truck. I learned the hard way that shortcuts are not always the best path to take. Often times the long way round is the right path.
So much of what seems convenient and expedient at any given moment is really a distraction. Temptations to take the easy way out will throw us off track and send us in the wrong direction in our lives. They are detours from the landmarks that should be guiding us. Even though we live in a world that considers values to be fluid, subject to change depending on circumstances or the popular opinion of the day, we know we can count on certain absolutes. We all have a built in sense of right and wrong. Some of us have a lot of practice ignoring that sense, but I promise you that it is there. And we need to do whatever we can to rely on the landmarks.
Where do your landmarks come from? If you had great parents like mine, they instilled certain values in you and gave you a great foundation. If not, you still might have known people of integrity and high character that served as an example to you. In either case, we all have access to God's Word, which is the basis for the absolutes we believe in and the values we should all live by. These things are absolutes and they never change. They don't have situations that they apply to and ones that they don't. They aren't matters of popular opinion. They are not negotiable. We can always count on them to keep us headed in the right direction, even if a more expedient or convenient shortcut tempts us.
The landmarks we should use to find solid footing and true direction in our lives will always be the same. The fundamentals never, ever change. You simply need to know your values and don't depart from them. Always remember to choose right over easy whenever you are offered a short cut.
Our lives are full of opportunities to take the easy way out. I have found this to be true throughout my 37 years on this earth and the older I become it seems that the more the temptations increase. Doing the right thing always seems to involve many shades of gray. Things like saving time or simply for the case of being more convenient at the time. I heard an old saying once upon a time, "It is sometimes easier to do the wrong thing, but it is always better to do the right thing." Truer words were never spoken.
I can remember thinking when I was 16 that a "shortcut" that I was going to take through a "backroad" was going to make my trip home shorter and maybe even a little more fun. What happened? A broken driveshaft and a stuck 4X4 truck. I learned the hard way that shortcuts are not always the best path to take. Often times the long way round is the right path.
So much of what seems convenient and expedient at any given moment is really a distraction. Temptations to take the easy way out will throw us off track and send us in the wrong direction in our lives. They are detours from the landmarks that should be guiding us. Even though we live in a world that considers values to be fluid, subject to change depending on circumstances or the popular opinion of the day, we know we can count on certain absolutes. We all have a built in sense of right and wrong. Some of us have a lot of practice ignoring that sense, but I promise you that it is there. And we need to do whatever we can to rely on the landmarks.
Where do your landmarks come from? If you had great parents like mine, they instilled certain values in you and gave you a great foundation. If not, you still might have known people of integrity and high character that served as an example to you. In either case, we all have access to God's Word, which is the basis for the absolutes we believe in and the values we should all live by. These things are absolutes and they never change. They don't have situations that they apply to and ones that they don't. They aren't matters of popular opinion. They are not negotiable. We can always count on them to keep us headed in the right direction, even if a more expedient or convenient shortcut tempts us.
The landmarks we should use to find solid footing and true direction in our lives will always be the same. The fundamentals never, ever change. You simply need to know your values and don't depart from them. Always remember to choose right over easy whenever you are offered a short cut.
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