Stupid root!

“The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”
-Proverbs 4:19

During the day at work, I like to listen to sermons. I can’t do that all day, of course, but I will listen when I can. Over the years my lineup of pastors has changed quite a bit. When I started out, I liked certain pastors, but as I grew in understanding of the gospel, I discovered that these pastors were not always teaching the truth of Christ but some variation. So I would remove one and add another. In time, my list was refined to a group I very much enjoy and really learn from.

But lately I’ve listened to a bunch of different preachers who have it wrong in some way or another. Some think that God will let everyone into Heaven. Some harp on the Law, saying we have to “get right with God” or we’ll burn in Hell.

I’ve been doing it to get an idea of what sort of teaching is out there, but it’s been frustrating for me. I often get upset, because I can picture a well-intentioned congregation that is following this pastor, and the pastor is leading them down the wrong path!

Sometimes, it makes me want to jump up from my chair and yell out, “What are you doing? Don’t you see what’s going on here?” Which I don’t do, of course, because I listen at work.

But then I read this verse, and I realized, no, they don’t see what’s happening at all. Because they’re in the dark.

And I was there too. It wasn’t too long ago that I was at a church that did not preach the Word, and I was listening to pastors who had it wrong. As God increased the light on my path (see verse 18), I began to actually see those things that were causing me to trip in the dark.

When you are in the dark and know nothing of the light, the smallest things can get you off track. The tiniest root can cause you to trip. You’ll latch on to anyone who seems to know where he is going. You’ll follow anyone who seems to know about the light.

But Jesus is our true light. He tells us this Himself: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). When this verse tells us that the wicked walk in darkness, it’s talking about us. None of us have walked in righteousness. None of us can claim holiness. We have all sinned in thought, word, and deed. We have been lost in the darkness of pride, lust, and greed. We have followed after the desires of our hearts, and we have lost the way.

It is Jesus that provides the light. It is Jesus alone who walked in righteousness. It is Him alone who deserved life, and yet still He died. In that death He took the dark punishment we deserved for our sins. If we have any hope to walk in the light of life, then it can only be by His light, because He is the only way to life.

There are religious teachers out there who are convinced that they know the way to life, but they are just as much in the dark as you are. The only way is Jesus. Have you realized that you will not make it by your own actions? Have you come to see the wickedness of your sins? Repent of them and believe in the Light. Keep walking in Grace until the end, when, as Proverbs 4:18 suggests, you are in the full day of His Glory and Majesty.