Light to Keep from Stumbling
Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. 16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.
In this passage from Proverbs 4 we see a contrast between the path of the “just” and the path of the wicked. We are warned not to travel on the path of the wicked and not to walk in the way of evil. The way of the wicked is like darkness. I think all of us have experienced trying to navigate around a dark room, where we can’t see very well. I know that I have stubbed my toe on things or stepped on things that were concealed by the dark. The funny thing about that to me is that the “darkness” did not produce the thing that I stepped on, it just concealed it. And if a light had been on in the room, I never would have stepped on the object…I would have easily seen it.
That’s what evil does. Evil doesn’t “create” things. Evil disguises and conceals things. In this parable, wisdom is seen as “light” which reveals the path that we are on. Wisdom makes the hidden things come to light so we can avoid them. Next time you are stumbling around in a dark room, I pray that God will bring to your mind the value of wisdom…..oh, by the way….turn on the light!
In wisdom,
Eric