Our family had a fun weekend picnicking and hiking at a state park with some of the college students where my husband teaches. We also went to an apple orchard and ended the day with a chili dinner, homemade apple pies, and pumpkin carving. It was a beautiful fall day.
We hiked through canyons on paths with precipitous drops where one wrong step could send you over the cliff and to a certain death! When my son stepped off the path to look down, I urged him to come back quickly — one slip and he would be over the edge. And the edge wasn’t like a roll down a hill, but a drop into a deep canyon. Only at one small portion did they even have a fence – most places were not guarded in any way. It reminded me of driving over a mountain pass where one wrong turn of the car’s steering wheel could take you over the edge of the mountain!
As we walked (and I prayed for safety!), I couldn’t help but think of verses like Jude 24-25:
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time now and forever. Amen.
Psalm 16:11:
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 17:5:
My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.
I thought about the path of life and how it is that we should walk. This was a picture to me of our lives. We need to stay on the path, following the Lord and His ways, to be secure. Going off the path and our own way leads to danger and could lead to death. But it’s exciting sometimes, it seems, to see what’s over there off the path, but it may just be a pit of destruction.
I also thought about those that we see walking off the path. Are we telling them to come back to safety? Or just hoping for the best for them? Their very lives could be at stake. If we have the words of life and know the path which leads to blessing and joy and salvation, should we not be sharing it with others who have not yet found it or don’t yet believe it.
Praise You, Lord, that you make known to us the path of life, that in your presence there is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. May we follow your path and ways, seeking you, and discover the many blessings and inestimable joy that awaits those who put their trust in you.
Praise Proclaimer 
