This Is The Way

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

           Having closed the books on one year, it’s time to prepare the books for the next year. How can we prepare when we don’t know what next year will bring? Since I’m more of a nose to the grindstone type than an “I’m going on an adventure” type, I understand. This is part of the reason behind “Wisdom, Direction, and Attitude.” And God keeps insisting that I carry my grindstone with me on an adventure (even if it never leaves my home.)

          We know who the passage is talking to: it’s talking to you, and therefore also to me. We tend to like to think of new years in terms of what, where, and when. Aren’t those the questions answered by “This is the way; walk in it”?

           How are we to walk in God’s will if we don’t know what that will is? Or where it is? Or when we’re supposed to turn in what direction? How can we walk in God’s will when we can’t tell the difference between the voice of the Spirit and the voice of the flesh? How can we open the books in 2020 when we don’t know the what, where, or when of God’s will?

          The solution may be to look at “the way” in which we’re to walk from a different perspective. Instead of answering the questions of what, when, and where; what if “This is the way; walk in it” is describing the how? Or the why?

          My thoughts return to the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The armor of God also comes to mind: truth, righteousness, salvation, preparation of the gospel of peace, the Word of God, and prayer. What if these are the way in which we should walk in this coming year? What if all the externals that come to as we open next year’s books are secondary effects of the more important spiritual growth?

          This concept leads us to a more difficult question. We’re all used to new year’s resolutions about losing weight, finding a better job, etc., but what resolutions do you make when you’re choosing from characteristics like the ones in the previous paragraph? What would your top five be? Your top three? Your number one? Which do you need the most work on?

          My top five are love, faithfulness, the Word of God, prayer, and self-control. My top three are love, the Word of God, and prayer. My number one is love. Wisdom, direction, and attitude will all be needed in abundance, but if, in this next year, I could learn to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love my neighbor as myself, and to love myself properly, it would be the best year of my life so far.