Just before I set off on one of our many walks to the shops with my 2 year old daughter Sophia, I knelt down and looked her in the eye and gently held onto her arm so that she can hear me. I say ‘You must stay near me today Sophia, don’t run off or hang back, I need to keep you safe’.
My daughter is wonderfully engaging, lively and defiant courageous, and so she needs this warning before we leave.
After months of dealing with an escapee toddler, she hears my warning and decides to try something different.
Sophia is two and so she likes to push boundaries. When told to stay on the path she decided she would walk as far over to the edge of the path as she could. This is still not safe and I have to physically take her hand and bring her closer to me.
She wasn’t technically disobeying me, but she still wasn’t safe.
This got me thinking how we can do this in our walk with God. We venture just a little off- not completely in the road but as far over as we think we can get away with. This may be by giving into that temptation time and time again, or perhaps not prioritising spending time with God or reading the bible. It could be listening to the lie that you are not good enough and so not pursuing what God has for you. We aren’t in total disaster here, but we cant fully enjoy all God has for us as we aren’t listening to his guidance. We cant be as sensitive to his voice because we are distracted by everything else.
But God wants so much more for you.
He wants to say to you ‘Stay close to me, this is where you are safe.’
Because when you out are there walking on the edge, you are in danger of falling off into the road. When we give in to the lies in our head telling us we are failures or telling us its ok to gossip or get drunk, we are taking another step away from from God’s plan for our lives and at risk of falling away from him.
Proverbs 4: 25
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.
Instead stay close to God, eyes fixed on what is ahead. Stay rooted in his word, listening, praying and being open to his guidance and not becoming sidetracked. Let him be your strength if you feel tempted. Let him be your comfort if you feel sad. Let him be your rescuer if you feel lost. But to allow him to be your everything, you have to be close to him, allow him full access. He is not surprised by your ‘baggage’, your temptations and hurts. He knows you completely and He loves you completely!
If you feel you have strayed away from His path for your life, and you want to know his closeness again, just turn to him now and ask for help. He cares so deeply for you and longs for you to call out to him. He promises he will always answer.
