How To Avoid A Traffic Jam

Today’s Bible readings are 2 Samuel 19:11-20:13, John 21:1-25, Psalm 120:1-7, & Proverbs 16:16-17

Proverbs 16:16-17

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! ¹⁷ The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.

I use to be friends with a guy who was a big trapper. He trapped all different types of animals. One day he was showing me the traps & how they work. He showed me a particular trap that I was really intrigued by because it was a type of trap that I had heard mentioned in the bible. This particular trap was called a “snare”.

This type of trap is unique to others in that it uses the struggle of the animal to against itself. It is basically a large noose that the animal gets caught in. The more it tries to fight to get out of the snare the more trapped it gets.

These snares are placed in different spots on the paths that animals are known to travel. They are usually unnoticed by the prey they are intended to trap, yet, they are VERY effective at getting the job done.

Sometimes my friend would put bait in a certain place to get a prey to sniff it out. As the animal pursued what its hunger was desiring it would soon get entangled in the snares that had been placed in its path.

Psalm 38:12

¹² Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.

There are traps being set up at all times. The enemy tries to lure us down certain traps just like my friend would try to lure animals down certain paths. He has placed snares of many sorts there to catch us up & choke the life out of us. We must learn to avoid his snares.

Our reading for today gives us some very good instruction on how to stay out of the snares that have been set.

Proverbs 16:16-17

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! ¹⁷ The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.

As we turn from evil & pursue the right things, we will find a path that is virtually snare free. It is when we drift from the virtuous path that we become subjected to the snares of satan. Our reading makes it clear that if follow the right path we will be safe. When we get off on the wrong paths we will find danger.

We must make sure that we don’t get off the path of righteousness & onto the path of:

1.      Greed

2.      Love for money

3.      Lust for pleasure

4.      Cravings of the flesh

5.      Pride of life

6.      Resentment

7.      Party Spirit

These are all places that the enemy will try to lure us to. He will put bait out that appeals to our 5 senses. If we let those senses direct us they will direct us down the path that will lead us to being trapped. There is a BETTER option however.

Galatians 5:16

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

The answer truly is walking in the Spirit. He will lead us down paths of righteousness for His names sake. He will illuminate our path so that we can see clearly. He is still the cloud by day & fire by night for us too.

Jesus said it best:

Matthew 7:13-14

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Seek out the right path & stay on it. You will find that, in the end, it is much easier to walk this path than the path that leads to destruction. By the way, there is a lot less traffic jams along the way.

Pastor Richard Schlotter