Proverbs 4:10-23

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

If you had to get from here to Lowe’s, you have many different options as to which route to take. And your route might depend on where your car is parked in our lot. From here, you’d have to decide whether to go east to 220 or west to take River Rd. Let’s just assume you go to 220. As you approach Gateway, you have to start making more decisions. Your main options for going west are Gateway, Demers, or 32nd. And your options for going south are Belmont, Washington, Columbia, or I-29. If it weren’t for the construction, you could also pick 42nd.

There are advantages to each—fewer railroad crossings, less traffic, fewer stoplights, faster speed limits, fewer turns. The decisions you make for your route would probably depend on your preferences. As I was writing this sermon, I pulled up directions from here to Lowe’s not because I need directions but so I could see what route the app recommended as the shortest and which was the fastest. By the way, the shortest isn’t the fastest. Between Apple Maps and Google Maps, there were seven suggested routes. And both apps changed their suggestion as the fastest route multiple times.

Scripture regularly talks about how there are only two ways to go through life. One is the path to life, and the other is the path to death and destruction. Basically, the first nine chapters of Proverbs are a father letting his son know that there are only two routes, two paths, two ways.

Just to be clear, the father isn’t trying to help his son make wise decisions on what career to pursue, where to live, whom to marry, how much to save for retirement, and so on. Those bits of wisdom will come in chapters 10-31. The first nine chapters are mainly about these two ways. Only after the father has given his son a clear understanding of those two ways does he get into all that other stuff. It isn’t that those other things don’t matter. They do. But what matters most is the son being on the right path—the path to life. Everything else in his life can serve being on that right way.

Scripture is clear. You are either allied with your Savior and trusting in Him, or you are against Him. There are no other options, and there is no neutrality (Dt. 30:15; Jer. 21:8). You’re familiar with Jesus saying exactly this, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me” (Mt. 12:30). God is always working on you. You are either being built up in faith toward God or being harmed by whatever else is going into your soul. This is why the father’s instructions here are so clear and urgent. Six times in v. 14-15, the father commands his son to shun the way that is contrary to God. 1) Do not enter the path of the wicked. 2) Do not walk in the way of evil. 3) Avoid it. 4) Do not go on it. 5) Turn away from it. And 6) Pass on. Could the father be any clearer or more fervent?

None of this means that the way of life is easy. Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat it. “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life” (Mt. 7:14). We know from experience that it is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God (Act. 14:22). Yes, that way and path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until full day (Pr. 4:18). But look again at what Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” Notice that the text doesn’t say anywhere that the righteous will never stumble. Believers still stumble. We still fall into sin, but the believer knows what caused that stumbling. So, the contrast between the two ways is obviously the destination, but along the way the main difference is the amount of illumination.

When the evil man is stumbling, he doesn’t even know what makes him trip. There’s a foolishness to him. He doesn’t know what is and what isn’t good for his soul because he doesn’t know his Lord. The righteous man is different, but not because he does everything perfectly and never falls into sin.

Dear saints, you aren’t different from unbelievers because you are sinless, have it all together, or have everything figured out. Life is confusing and hard for everyone. The difference between you and an unbeliever is that when you stumble, you know the sin that tripped you up. Even more importantly, you know that you are walking on a narrow way with the One who has saved you from your sin. That’s a big advantage.

The unbeliever doesn’t even know what he’s stumbling over. You do. You can look back and see that root or crack that tripped you up. And even though it causes you to fall—even if it’s a colossal fall—you know the problem. Better than knowing the problem, you know the Savior who is beside you. The Savior who is there to pick you up. The Savior who is there to tend your wounds and heal… you.

This is why the father here doesn’t stop after telling his son to avoid the other way. He presses his son to keep listening. “Be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh” (Pr. 4:20-22). This is how Christ heals you. He puts His Word in your heart. Then, the father closes with the command and promise: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Pr. 4:23). In other words, the way of life isn’t a route to memorize and master. Instead, it’s a Word that you keep.

Your heart isn’t a room that you do your best to keep tidy and neat. It’s a spring, and whatever is in it will flow out of it. You’ve been given a new heart by your Savior who does not leave your spring empty.

Christ Himself is the Wisdom that the father has been teaching his son. Jesus is the Way that leads to life. He entered the creation that our sin had darkened. On the cross, the Light of the world (Jn. 9:5) was covered, and it looked like the darkness had won, but it hadn’t.

Easter morning is the dawn mentioned in v. 18 of our text. The light of Christ’s resurrection shines brighter and brighter until it will reach full day when Christ returns. Until then, He keeps walking with you on a way that, yes, is narrow and hard. But it isn’t a way that you walk alone.

So, when you fall this week—and you will, I will, we all will—you aren’t in the dark about what hit you. You know the cause. So, repent of that sin. And know the Savior who puts His Word of forgiveness back into your ears and His Body and Blood into you again. He keeps your heart by filling it.

Your navigation apps will keep changing their mind about the fastest way to Lowe’s. But your heavenly Father doesn’t recalculate the way to life. Jesus is and always remains the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6).

Keep hold of His instruction. Do not let go, because there, and there alone, is Life. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.