Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
Where I grew up, it was a couple miles to get out to the highway, and our back road.was not very well maintained. It was pretty rough to drive and normally filled with serious potholes and washouts. Back then, the suspension on vehicles wasn’t very good in comparison to the ones that are made today. Even when you went slow, you could feel the bang of every little bump every time that you hit one. A lot of times when you get your driver’s permit, your dad really doesn’t appreciate you hitting all the potholes when you drive through town. You probably learned that in order to please him, you needed to turn away from them.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
This world is like a city street that is strewn with potholes because there are sinful temptations lurking around every corner. But in order to please God, we must keep steadily focused on the road in front of us, and turn away from sinful obstacles whenever they present themselves. Hitting deep potholes can completely destroy your vehicle, but sin has the same effect in our lives. We must be wise enough in the teachings of scripture to be able to see them coming, and responsive enough to quickly turn away to completely avoid them.
Proverbs 4:14-15 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
Avoid means to stay away from or prevent something from happening. It also means to refrain from doing something by taking the appropriate measures to ensure that it doesn’t occur. Sin is anything that goes against the will of God, things that are readily identified throughout the teachings of scripture. Like walking through a field that is filled with landmines, we must learn how to sidestep them all by following the narrow path of Christ Jesus.
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Many years ago when I was working out by Jackson Hole, somebody took me river rafting, something that I had never done before in my life. A lot of the trip was very calm, floating down a lazy river that was very peaceful and uneventful. But there were other parts where you had to avoid strong currents, whitewater, huge boulders, and other obstructions that were in the river. If you were going to get safely to the end of the trip you had to watch where you were going! Well, in order to overcome this sinful world and someday inherit eternal life, we must look into the teachings of scripture. God’s Word teaches us the safe path to take so we can avoid all of the hidden dangers as we paddle through this treacherous world.
Psalms 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
People will turn on the highway to avoid hitting a deer. People will turn on the highway to avoid a dangerous collision. God wants to protect us from danger, but we have to turn away from sinful living before it’s too late.
Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
I remember as a child going somewhere to participate in a bicycle safety program. On a playground behind one of the schools, the instructors had set up hundreds of orange cones and stop signs that you had to navigate through in order to obtain your bicycle safety certification. The Christian Life is the same way because we’ve got to keep inside of the cones and abide safely on the path of Jesus Christ. Just like running a marathon, we must stay on the course otherwise you could be disqualified. We must be able to identify and avoid sin, and patiently run the race that is before us.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
What kind of things do you avoid at the supper table? I keep my distance from things such as peanut butter, most sugary foods, and of course, string beans! When somebody passes foods like this to me, I simply pass them to the next person. I have learned during my life the things that I like and what I don’t like. When we study scriptures, we learn what God likes and what He does not like. To be successful in the Christian Life is to be able to avoid the things that He doesn’t want us to do, and excel in the areas that please Him. These are very simplistic analogies, but we must turn away from sin in order to please a perfect Heavenly Father. He is sinless, but through His dispensation of Grace found in His Son Christ Jesus, He wants us to move on unto perfection and become sinless in His sight. Most people will say that’s impossible, but that’s because they have little or no faith. Jesus taught to go and sin no more, something that each of us must learn to do in order to accomplish the perfect will of God.
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
God doesn’t want us repenting over and over again. He doesn’t want us to continue driving over the potholes. He wants us to stay on the path of His precious Son Jesus, and become blameless and perfect in His sight. Since my youth, people taught me that it was impossible to be perfect and was pointless to try. This philosophy is complete contrary to the will of God. We should always strive to be the best that we can possibly be, turning away from the muddy potholes of sinful and disobedient living, and keeping on the high ground of biblical truth. To become perfect in the sight of God, we must overcome sin, by turning away from its obstructions, and seeking to follow the way of Christ.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Listen closely men, each one of you who overcome sin are going to be rewarded by God.
Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
In order to please God, we must make sure to steer clear of sin. So the next time you are driving down the road with your dad, maybe you will remember to do what pleases him by staying out of the mud and the dirt, and make sure to continue,…..
…….Avoiding the Potholes
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 