Thus says the LORD, “Stand in the fork in the road, and look carefully, and ask for the old paths, which way is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk therein.” “Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Pay attention to the sound the trumpeter makes with the trumpet.” But they said, “We will not pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet.”
Jeremiah 6:16-17 (Paraphrase mine).
Many years ago, my family went hunting for turkey. The weather was quite cold and very cloudy. It looked as though it could start snowing at any time. My dad was accustomed to such conditions (I stayed with dad.) and told us to always keep a certain mountain to our right and we could hunt all around the mountain and come out at the road where we were parked, not far from the truck. That was fine until the mountain became so totally obscured by the clouds. My brother and uncle eventually found the road but they did not know whether to go right or left. They were five miles from the truck. (Note: we didn’t find a single turkey that day.)
All too often people listen to the wrong directions rather than listening to God through His Word. There are so many voices that are clamoring for attention. So many who are wanting to gain a following that they are willing to say almost anything if it will bring attention to themselves. God gave instructions to keep us from going off willy-nilly but that we should stand at the fork in the road and observe and then ask someone who knows the way and walk in the old path. The “old path” speaks of the established way of God. It is the way of righteousness and rest. It is the way that leads to life everlasting. Like so many people who “do it their way” these days they said, “We will not walk therein.” This they did to their own destruction.
God then told them to listen to the sound of trumpet. Men were on the wall, watching out for the safety of the people and when they blew the trumpet it was a warning that danger was approaching. But they had heard it all before so they said we will not listen. Today many hear the warnings of approaching danger, but they have heard it all before and will not listen. When the pastor preaches that Jesus is coming soon their reply is, “I have heard that since I was a child, and He still hasn’t come.” They refuse to listen even though the trumpet is blaring in their ear.
Jeremiah did all that he could to warn the people, but they refused to listen to his warnings. We must not make the same mistake. We must seek out the “old path” and walk therein for it is the way of godliness. We must not listen to the voices that lead us away from the Word of God. There is a right way. It may be narrow, but it is the good way. AMEN!
