SCRIPTURE: Pro. 4:25-27 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked;  keep your feet from following evil.

OBSERVATION: Here is a real key for avoiding traps in our lives that will lead us into doing the wrong, destructive things; 1) Have a future orientation. Let God show you where you ought to be going. Instead of looking back with regret and dwelling on past failures, or even successes, look forward to the great plans God wants to work in us and with us. 2) Set out a path to walk. We should determine our plan of action so that we have a safe path to walk on. It is easy to get sidetracked if you have no idea what the directions are to our destination. 3) Watch for those things that are not going to get us to our goal. Evil is not always something terrible, it is sometimes simply those things that waste our lives and since our short lives are the greatest commodity in the universe, wasting them is the greatest crime.

APPLICATION/CONFESSION: I find, for myself, that the easiest time to get sidetracked and end up on the wrong path is when I am tired or stressed. It is in those times that I need to be especially cautious.

PRAYER: Lord, show me where you want me to go--where you want to change me, how you want to use me. Show me the path to walk on--at least the next steps--that will get me closer to that goal. And please Lord, warn me of the sidetracks and keep me safe from them.