The next of my favorite quotes to live by, is a quote I had forgotten about until just recently. It was a quote that heavily impacted my life as a younger man, showing me that life was something different than what I thought it was as a child, and that if I wasn’t careful, I would end up on a pathway I had never wanted to be on. This quote to live by comes from the Bible, from the book of Proverbs, chapter 14, a book dedicated to life wisdom. It says simply:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
I’ve often marveled at how easily I’ve been fooled in life into traveling a pathway that ends up leading nowhere — inevitably finding myself stranded on some forgotten byway with nowhere left to travel. And always, looking back down the pathway that finally has come to and end, it seems so obvious in hindsight that the path was always going to lead to nowhere, and I can’t believe that I didn’t see it beforehand.
One of my wishes, as a man who realizes that life is short, has always been to live my life with purpose and meaning — in essence, to do those things in life that are really worth doing. There’s a prayer in the Psalms that I’ve adopted as part of my prayers to God. It’s from Psalm 119, and the Psalmist simply pleads to God:
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things.“
I don’t know why, but human beings, in their natural state, often have such a hard time identifying worthless pursuits until it’s too late. Hollow things often have such captivating promises. So often we spend our time and effort on paths that lead to death, never giving a second thought to the notion that maybe what we’re doing isn’t really something worth this precious thing called life. One of my biggest regrets in life is spending so much time and energy on paths that lead nowhere and pursuits that end up worthless.
In my mind, the quote to live by at the beginning of this post is one of the most solemn declarations ever made about humanity. How sad is it that human beings are so easily taken in by things that prove hollow, that we often don’t realize, until it’s too late, that what we’ve been spending our time striving to achieve really isn’t what we thought it was. How many a mid-life crisis could have been avoided if we would have, just for a little while, taken the time to make sure that our life’s pursuits were really things that would bring meaning and purpose into our hearts.
I always keep this quote at the top of my quotes to live by. I have been fooled enough in life — have spend my time and energy resigned to what seemed good enough at the time. It is my prayer and hope that my eyes will be turned away from worthless things and my feet away from paths that lead to death.
6 Comments
great verses…so easy to be fooled when we follow our heart and not allow wisdom to take root. great post ben…
Thanks Brian! I’m very glad you agree.
I love that you share Scripture. It’s Truth, and the only words to live by because they’re words of life.
I think what you wrote is so important to recognize, and in addition to that, I would add that intimacy with God is critical to know what paths will lead to life. We know there’s so many roads that lead to death, so how can we prevent that? I believe that a relationship with God is the best place to start. Growing in intimacy with Jesus, truly knowing God’s heart…only from that place will we find a life that’s truly worth living.
I find that as I journey, God continually aligns me to the path He wants me to walk. It’s a daily process. A daily relationship.
A few Scriptures to encourage you.
James 1:5-8
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
God will give you wisdom when you ask for it. And then you simply need to believe He will.
Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Let this lift you up. Even if you’ve traveled down dead end roads, God has the power to redeem. He loves taking the broken and turning it into something beautiful. God takes our messes and makes them into something good…something with eternal purpose.
Just trust His plans. He wants to you to experience a life that is beyond what you can even imagine. Wow.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
God isn’t new to the whole miracle thing. He really does have the absolute best for you. Believe it.
Erin, preach it sister
Those are some really encouraging verses. Sometimes I do tend to get down on myself for the mistakes I’ve made and the ways I’ve wasted my time, but you’re very right about God being in control and being able to take bad situations and turn them to good. Thank you for your encouragement. I greatly appreciate it.
Great quote! Perhaps we are always tested along this journey called life. I believe that most of the time we were ‘warned’ by our intuition not to take those paths which led to nowhere. However, we chose to ignore our intuition to go ahead as we gave in to the temptation. If only we listen and tune in to our intuition. We do need to have the faith and believe in ourselves that we are guided.
BK thanks! I think you’re right about intuition. There are always doubts in the back of my mind, whenever I’m on the wrong road.