Straight Paths for Your Feet

Hebrews 12 begins with an encouragement to us who believe in Jesus Christ in truth and in righteousness, that we are to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and to run with endurance the race that God has set before us to run, which is a spiritual race (walk of faith), looking to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith, a faith which dies with Christ to sin and is raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to God and to his righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23).

We are to consider that Jesus was tempted to sin but that he resisted that temptation to sin to the point of shedding of his blood for us on that cross in order to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now live holy lives in walks of obedience to our Lord, in the power of God. And we are to follow his example to us. For if we don’t, and we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and we don’t walk in obedience to him, we don’t have eternal life in him.

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.” (Hebrews 12:12-17,25 ESV)

Now, this is not assuming here that all who hear this or read this are of legitimate faith in Jesus Christ. For the passage lets us know in several places that if we do not resist sin, and if our lives are without discipline, and if we are not pursuing holiness, but if we remain defiled in heart, and so we don’t truly repent of (turn from) our sins to follow the Lord in obedience, then we are illegitimate children of God, and we will not see the Lord, and we will not obtain the grace of God, and we’ll not inherit eternal life.

So, we need to take this seriously. For our salvation is not secured for us on the basis of lip service only. So, if you are still wandering in the wilderness, still living in sexual immorality, dishonesty, faithlessness, lying, cheating, stealing, and committing adultery, etc., in practice, you will not enter into the “Promised Land,” i.e. into the kingdom of heaven (of God/Christ). Even claiming faith in Jesus Christ is not enough, and making promises to change is not enough. For the same patterns will produce the same results.

So the encouragement here is to change and to do something different, but not just anything, but what the Scriptures teach that we must do. So, if you have been slothful about your relationship with the Lord, still wandering in the wilderness, still habitually giving into your sinful cravings, regardless of who you hurt in the process, that has to stop! But we have to realize where this all comes from, for it comes from what is stored up in the heart, which is where the “root of bitterness” is being stored and is leading to sin.

But there are a lot of people, like Esau, who want the blessing but without having to have the heart alteration. They want to enter into the “Promised Land,” but they find the river too hard to cross, which is the narrow gate that leads to life eternal. So they go the way of the wide gate, which is the easy way, instead, thinking that will be enough to please God, even if they know differently. So they always stop short of where they need to go, and they look for other ways that seem similar, but that are not the narrow way.

But we are to make straight (honest, upright, decent, moral, trustworthy, and righteous) paths for our feet. And honesty begins with facing the truth of what is stored up in our hearts and getting those evil things out of our hearts so that we can walk in purity of devotion to the Lord and in loving others instead of sinning against them. But this can only be done in the strength of the Lord as we, in truth, yield control of our lives over to him and we let him change us from the inside out. But we must do what he says.

The moment we refuse the Lord and what he is speaking to our hearts and we decide to go the “easy way,” instead, then all progress that could be made stops. And then we have sealed our fate. For we can’t do “faith” our way. We must do it God’s way. For the faith that saves comes from God, it is perfected by Christ, it is gifted to us by God, it is persuaded of God, and it is not of our own doing, not of the will nor of the flesh of man. So we can’t decide what that faith looks like. God does, and his Word does.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-10]

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life in him. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, don’t be like Esau. Don’t sell your birthright for what is of this world that you hunger after. And don’t think that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to assure you heaven as your eternal destiny but regardless of how you live. Don’t believe the lies that tell you that your sins no longer matter to God and that they won’t be held against you. For we are all going to be judged by our works. Those who obey the Lord, in practice, have eternal life. Those who sin in practice, do not have eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Broken Cord

An Original Work / August 29, 2018

Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior

And your testimony is separate from Him.

Your words not matching your actions today.

Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.

Live what you testify in truth always.

Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,

For you profess one thing, but other you do.

Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.

Not living in truth to what you confess.

Lying about it puts you in a mess.

Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.

Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.

Your heart is not given to your Lord God.

Because of how you live, you are a fraud.

Turn from your sin and give your life to God.

https://vimeo.com/287303934