The Path of Sinners

Know where a path goes before stepping on it.

“Thus says the Lord to this people: ‘Thus they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet.’ Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, and punish their sins” (Jeremiah 14:10).

Restraint is a part of life. It must be learned and it must be based on principles from God for life to be worthwhile. Unfortunately, many people fail to learn to restrain themselves beyond what is acceptable in society. The reason that is a problem is because what is acceptable in society is not always what is acceptable to God.

A wise person will look at his ways and live according to the Word of God. Proverbs 1:15-16 is part of a warning to avoid the enticements of sinners to do wrong. “My son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood.”

It is unfortunate that we often walk on the path with sinners until the path becomes too evil for us. We will go so far, but we have "standards". We set arbitrary limits. We will only have so many drinks. We will only go so far in “making out” with a boyfriend or girlfriend. We will only say certain words. We will only drive so fast. We will only walk in small steps toward hatred. We will only say so much about others in gossip. We will only walk toward sin until we start to feel guilty, then we will hurriedly flee that path.

The problem with going down that road is that the next time it does not feel as uncomfortable and we do not feel as guilty. So we travel a few more steps.

Look carefully at the road you are on today. Where is it going? What are the results of your choices in life? Are you on the path of sinners?

Notice how one of the wisest man to ever live said we should treat the way of sinners. “Keep your foot from their path.”

Why do we push limits and see how close we can get to sin before we are punished? It is usually because our hearts are at the end of that road, caught up in the desires for sin. When separated, our hearts and our bodies will move toward each other. The heart will pull the body unless the body remains steadfast. If our hearts are caught up in sinful desires, we will find a way for our bodies to arrive there.

Keep your heart focused on Jesus and upon His word and keep your feet from the path of sinners.