Have you ever walked down a road at night when there are no streetlights or the light from houses shining?
Do you do anything to keep from thinking about what you can’t see?
In this chapter of Proverbs, Solomon talks about all the benefits of remaining close to the Lord. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding, common sense. All these are priceless. Then he adds this to the list: “He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.”
WHOA!!!
God Himself guards the paths of the just AND protects the ones who are faithful to Him?
That’s no angel, folks, that’s Almighty God. Angels are powerful and do a great job protecting us, but God is even more!
How pleased He must be with us when we are just in all our dealings with mankind and persistently faithful to Him that He would guard and protect us.
What’s that look like, you ask?
Being just means you have judged the person and/or situation in front of you according to God’s Word and treat them as He would. No, that doesn’t mean you get to smite the guy who cut you off on the interstate.
It means making no distinction between this beautifully dressed, sweet smelling one and the one whose aroma is less appealing and whose clothes are ragged and unkempt.
It means seeing the people before as God sees them: created in His image. Then doing what is in our power to give them dignity. It’s making sure to give that person the goodness of the Truth of God’s love for them and warning everyone of the coming day of judgment – not just the ones we like.
In truth, the ONLY way to be just as He is just is to remain faithful to Him. When we stay so close to the Lord that we are constantly in His shadow, we operate differently than when we’re walking on our own.
Faithful to God is just like being faithful to a spouse or best friend. We always speak well of Him, we never let lies about Him go unanswered, our love for Him is so strong, everyone can see it.
Today, let’s work on these: being just and faithful. Ask God to show you what that looks like for you and to train you. He’ll do that. He’s nice like that.
Then you can know that not only are there angels guarding and protecting you, God is, too.
Coffee, Bible, Journal