I had always heard that if a farmer keeps his eyes on a distant object while he’s plowing, he’ll make a straight furrow. So I tested the principle when I mowed my lawn. Sure enough, my first cut was a straight swath of new-mown turf.
If you can plow a straight furrow or mow in a straight line by keeping your eyes fixed on a distant object, surely the principle should also be true of life—especially if the object on which you fix your gaze is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
That’s what the writer of the Proverbs says in chapter 4. In fact, the whole book of Proverbs is about following a straight path. It tells how to avoid the sexual trap (ch. 5-7), how to retain your integrity (12:1-16; 29:23), how to control your tongue (12:17-22; 21:23), how to get along with difficult people (14:7; 15:1), and how to stay healthy and live long (3:7-8,13-18). According to Proverbs, the wise person can walk the straight path and not be diverted.
But the Bible doesn’t just advise, “Be wise!” It introduces us to Jesus Christ. The truly important question is our relationship to Him. He didn’t just teach the truth; He is the truth (Jn. 14:6). So the only way to follow a straight path through life is to keep your eyes on Him.
I need His eye to guide me in the pathway,
For I am weak and helpless as a child;
And if without it I would take my journey,
My feet would stumble on the mountains wild. —Anon.
Our wisdom is folly unless we’re following Christ.
Article by Dennis J. De Haan, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries