Where Do You Stand?
A Devotion
The Goodsoil Discipleship Ministry
By Bro. Andy Madonio
August 17, 2000
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psalm 1:1
There are streams and currents and pathways of influence in this world. We must eventually, at some time or another, move among them and through them in the course of our lives. A stream or pathway, however, has no real effect unless one remains in it's ever-influential current. Things and thoughts and people don't usually impinge upon our lives as we pass briefly through or over or by -- but stand in the middle, and a collision will certainly occur.
Crossing a busy road is a relatively safe event, if you're careful; but stop in the middle and soon enough that road will leave its mark on you. You will be "influenced," and certainly changed by it. Wariness and care are the keys. Be circumspect. You may navigate these highways and pathways well enough when the desires of Jesus are your goal; it is then that you have purpose and vision and are not easily distracted. Loose your focus, however, or become momentarily distracted, and the traffic will sweep you away; the power of the current will be easier to flow with than to resist.
The "pathway of sinners" is a wide and busy highway. The flow is fast, the travelers many, and to venture out and stand immobile is to invite destruction. The "path of sinners" may seem inviting and exciting. It may be lined with the latest and greatest, the most popular and desirable. It certainly will have bright lights and glitter and dazzle along its way. Yes, we must cross these paths often as we do the Lord's will, but we must not stand fixed in their death-inevitable influence.
Our job is to cut a wake through these "sinner paths," at right angles. We are to disrupt them by the way and direction we walk. The influence of Christ is like this; one crisscross pathway at a time. The obedience of each Holy Spirit enabled believer to walk thus, will change the "path" of the world.
