Proverbs 4:20-27 English Standard Version

20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Some spend a lot of time trying to decide what is the right thing to do. These are OT words but contain great advice because they say how to do right. Doing right is not a matter of deciding so much as it is a matter of being.

We walk by faith. We follow Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit as our companion on our walk. We have spoken of distractions which are identified here as a swerve off the path. We can see that in our driving and keeping focus on the road. When we look right our bodies tend to drift right and then we have to adjust back to the path of safety.

It must be noted that we already knew our course, where our final destination is and how to get there. We know that from the promises made by God and discovering His will in the life we live in Christ. It is in the being.

The pondering heart knows what Christ in us has to say about being together. It is in the being.

We are human beings and being human has its moments which are driven by the flesh which was given to us with purpose. God’s purpose is often misleading if we allow the flesh to be the center of our joy. The joy of the Lord is not in the flesh.

Romans 14:20 English Standard Version (ESV) Do not, for the sake of food(self-satisfaction), destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats(enjoys).

The (comments) are mine for the purpose of enlarging the conversation above and beyond foods offered to idols. We can make anything into an idol. When we allow anything to take over that place of affection in our minds and ignore our true heart.

As we spoke of recently, our right choices originate from the heart which is ruled by Christ.

Romans 10:17 English Standard Version (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Abraham is the father of three religious faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If we study each of these religions the word faith has different definitions. Since we are Christians then how we come about to understand what faith means to us is defined here in Romans 10:17.

What has God said to you through His Word, Jesus Christ, that gives you meaning as He has shown you where faith is concerned?

I could tell you what this verse says to me but  then I would be trying to convince you of what I believe. I have to live with myself and in accordance with what the Word tells me. I don’t get to pick and choose what others should believe about faith, that is between you and God.

I will not argue that point with the other two religions for they clearly leave Christ out of the definition. If I were to give my understanding of what true faith is then some might agree. Others would understand and hold my believe as nothing more than an opinion and hold to their own understanding. It is more important that we live by it than it is to define it.

Habakkuk 2:4 English Standard Version (ESV) “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Romans 1:17 English Standard Version (ESV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The connection between OT and NT using the word faith is directly tied to right actions  defined as faithfulness, to do as we are commanded. That has not changed from OT to NT, God is in charge. God’s will predominates.

How we know His will and how we can act on His will are both tied to faith.

Faith ties His will and our obedience together.

Romans 16:26 English Standard Version (ESSV) but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—