Each of us follows a path in our lives. This daily devotional looks at how our feet and our eyes determine this path and how the focus should be on God.
Nuggets
- The gaze of our hearts must be on God.
- Our lives are established by the discipline of our hearts.
This will be the last time we look at Charnock’s sermon entitled The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts. Promise. We’ll make it through his points in this devotion.
Resource
To read a devotion in a related series, click the appropriate button below.
“A fourth sort of directions is concerning good motions; whether they spring naturally from a gracious principle, or are peculiarly breathed in by the Spirit. There are ordinary bubblings of grace in a renewed mind, as there are of sins in an unregenerate heart; for grace is as active a principle as any, because it is a participation of the Divine nature. But there are other thoughts darted in beyond the ordinary strain of thinking, which, like the beams of the sun, evidence both themselves and their original. And as concerning these motions joined together, take these directions in short” (Charnock, The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts)
Let's Put It into Context
Nuggets from the previous devotion
- We have to follow God by focusing on His Word when He calls us to salvation.
- God’s Word combats the disease of sin, so ABCDing heals us from that disease and gives us life.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
The Path of Our Gaze
“Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead” (Prov. 4: 24-25 CSB)
The gaze of our hearts must be on God.
Verse 24 is the list of don’ts. Verse 25 is the list of do’s.
How do we accomplish the list of do’s? Thomas said it is by listening and seeing.
More importantly to our discussion, Thomas said we must have an enshrining heart. But what does that mean?
Resource
That means we must get everything down to the heart level.
Think of it this way. In a different sermon, Thomas said our moral behavior has to be constant. He wrote, “Virtue is a straight line running right up to God.”
Resource
Our character comes from our heart. When Solomon said that we should set our “… eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead” (Prov. 4: 25 CSB), he probably should have said up.
Spurgeon was right. We have to carefully watch all of us to ensure we are focused on God.
Resource
We’ve talked about watching many times. There are so many things for which we have to be alert.
Glossary
We have to watch Satan’s tempting to sin. We have to watch others for service opportunities. We have to watch ourselves to make sure we follow the Holy Spirit’s soft promptings.
Singleness of purpose. Unswerving regard. Constantly looking up. Steadily obeying.
These are the concepts I keep reading about here.
I don’t see wiggle room. I don’t see part-time occupation. I don’t see doubts.
I see constant devotion to a loving God. We’d say our minds are made up.
Because it is — it is a conscious decision to have constant devotion towards God.
Really, isn’t this where we ground our faith? Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
It is how we structure our walk.
The Path We Trod
“Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil” (Prov. 4: 26-27 CSB)
Our lives are established by the discipline of our hearts.
I know. I wrote “structure our walk” on the last paragraph, and I was thinking, “Did your brain just fall asleep on you?”
Structure wasn’t exactly the word I was going for. These verses were what I meant.
Our ways — our lives — will be established when we choose to walk the narrow path God wants us to walk.
I don’t know that we always consider life to be a path. Homiletic Monthly said that it can be “unique, difficult, [and] momentous.”
Resource
Ooo, baby. Isn’t that the truth?
None of our paths are the same, yet they all have their ups and downs. It is only heading one way — to the final judgment day.
Our paths are based on where our feet take us. In order to get there, we need to have our eyes focused on where we going.
I like what else the Homiletic Monthly said. They wrote, “The path is intricate, and nothing short of the utmost care, and constant watchfulness, and thorough discipline of heart and life can carry one safely through it.”
Resource
Discipline of the heart. And not just any discipline, but thorough discipline.
Complete dedication to Sovereign God.
Making the Connections
It is the dedication to God that is important. We can have a “good heart.” Be a good person.
That doesn’t matter.
What matters is that we have ABCDed.
How Do We Apply This?
• Examine ourselves to make sure our character is imitating God’s character.
• Determine our motives and principles.
Resource
Father God. Our footsteps are measured by You. You determine the paths we are on. May we use our eyes to focus solely on You. Amen.
What do you think?
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