Watch Where You're Going

Devotion for the week...

I have been going for walks with toddlers almost daily for about 20 years now. If I had a dollar for every time I've said, "watch where you're going so you don't fall," I'd never have to work another day in my life! With some kids, I have to say it every few minutes because they get so distracted by everything going on around us that they forget to watch where they're putting their feet. One youngster fell almost every day, even with the regular reminders! Several of them have loved to race with the other kids, but consistently forgot to look ahead rather than behind while running.

There are multiple reasons we have to watch where we're going as we walk or run. There could be obstacles in the way (loose rocks, a raised section of sidewalk), there could be holes we might step into (especially around here!), or we could simply go off course because our feet tend to follow the direction of our gaze. With the littles I've looked after, I've seen all of those things result in falls, despite my warnings.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote, "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). In the previous 11 verses, Paul wrote about the people whose stories were recorded in the Old Testament, saying their stories of craving evil (v. 6), worshipping idols (v. 7), and grumbling (v. 10) were recorded " to warn us who live at the end of the age" (v. 11). 

Of course, with the advantage of hindsight, we might be tempted to think those people were weak or foolish, and of course we would never be tempted to sin as they did. Uh, yeah...that's exactly why Paul told us to watch where we're going! The littles are all sure they're not going to fall, too, completely oblivious to the rocks and holes in their path, or to how they're not running in the direction they think they are. 

We can be just as oblivious to the spiritual obstacles in our path. Those obstacles aren't physical rocks; instead they're temptations to indulge in things contrary to how God wants us to live. Maybe it's a temptation to gossip, or to judge others, to grumble or to worship something other than God. If we're not paying attention, we could fall right into those actions even though we thought we were immune to them. Or maybe that should say because we thought we were immune to them, and so didn't watch where we were going.

Where are our thoughts headed? Where are our conversations headed? Where are our actions headed? Are they going in a direction that leads to who we want to be? To who God wants us to be? If not, what changes do we need to make to get back on course, and to avoid the obstacles in front of us?