GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 28:18
18 He whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
but he who takes a crooked road will suddenly fall.
A blameless walk is only possible with faith in Christ. Any other path is a crooked road, a road to despair, arrogance, folly, unbelief, doubt, and ultimately, damnation. I have often described the paths that lie before mankind as the degrees of a compass. Only one direction (let’s say due north, azimuth 0º) is the way to heaven. It’s through Jesus. Many other paths will seem pretty close, but they don’t get to your destination. The devil doesn’t need you to go 180º, he just needs you to try out 3º or that 359º azimuth to the left a little. It seems so close! What’s the difference? The difference is that taking another path means either getting nowhere near heaven, or knocking on a door that’s shut to you. Those that get nowhere near will be ‘thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ (Mark 9:47). Those who try the closed door or some side door will only hear the grim, heart-breaking words: ‘I don’t know you.’
Pointing the true path to heaven through Jesus alone has always been the goal of these devotions. In my missionary days, I once preached a Reformation sermon (October 31, 1999) in Des Moines, Washington. I had encouraged the congregation to use whatever means they could to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to the eyes and ears of their family and friends. And as we sang the offering hymn after the sermon, it occurred to me that I had a way, as a missionary, of doing that in a manner nobody I knew of was doing. I knew that some churches sent out a weekly or monthly devotion by e-mail to their members, but what about every day?
I talked it over with my wife, argued about it with my mission supervisor (who was very much against the idea), compiled a list of possible names to receive it, and started with a series of very short one- or two-paragraph devotions on Galatians, verse by verse. Ever since then, these devotions have been my way of staying in the word of God every single day, in public. I hope that I have continued to show the true and only path to everlasting life, through Jesus our Savior, and him alone. God willing, these devotions will continue for many years to come. But whatever God has in mind or in store for this medium, my prayer is that your walk with Jesus will continue for the rest of your life, and then on into eternity.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Wisdom for You – Proverbs 28:18 Your blameless walk