Avoiding Detours

Read Proverbs 4

Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 4:27

Today’s verse was Solomon’s way of stating a very familiar principle. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Philippians 3:14, the apostle Paul stated it in terms of running a race, and running it with the goal of obtaining the prize. Even the well-known children’s fable about a tortoise and a hare is centered around the same message: Keep focused, have a definite goal, work diligently toward that goal, and don’t let yourself be distracted.

Why is that advice so often repeated? Probably because it is so difficult to follow. Diligence is work—hard work. Becoming distracted is easy; it happens when we’re not looking. It is also all too easy to follow evil. It happens when we let down our guard, when we stop working toward our goal.

What should that goal be? Solomon answers that question, too. In Ecclesiastes 12:13, he says, “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” The greater our focus on God and his Word, the less will be our tendency to get sidetracked.

A WORD FOR TODAY

There are two opposite destinations, but only one Way.

Today, Lord, let my mind be stayed on you. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.