Back To The Old Paths

It was a clear, calm and cold Colorado sky under which Johnny and Susan decided to go for a hike. Near the top of Cottonwood Pass just west of Buena Vista, they had chosen a far back country trail that promised untouched wild scenery, waterfalls and a serene lake at the end.

Perhaps it was that they had started early in the morning, or it was still just late April and there were snowbanks littered here and there along the path, but there was no one else on the trail with them. This did not matter: Johnny and Susan had each other’s company and that was enough for them and their current viewpoint of life: young, in love, with the entire world at their feet. Who needed anyone else?

As they walked, they pointed out to one another this small cluster of Aspen trees, that group of lichen-stained rocks, an occasional deer track emblazoned in the trail’s mud. Once in a while a tiny side trail would shoot off here or there - clearly not maintained by the forest service, just some point of interest for hikers who knew something about the area.

Johnny had a deeply back of mind sense there was someone or something else on the trail. It was only vaguely troubling to him, so he didn’t say anything to Susan as he didn’t want to needlessly trouble her with something that probably didn’t even exist. Just his imagination.

Finally, the temptation to scamper up one of the mysterious side trails got the best of them. This particular trail was only as wide as the sole of a shoe, but contained the portent of something particularly beautiful beyond. The forest was thin enough at this point that they could see a pool of blue sky beckoning to them near the crest of the trail, some fifty or seventy-five feet above them. They might be able to command a view of the Cottonwood valley they knew was immediately below them, but not visible from their current vantage point.

The cold wet grass wiped their calfs as they made their way up the trail. The trail was steep enough that they needed to grasp an occasional thin Aspen trunk for balance.

As they neared the top of the hill, the trail opened up to the fulfilled promise of a gorgeous panorama - it was clear at this point that they were higher than anything else within view.

Johnny was no more than three or four feet from the top when something long sprang at him. A mountain lion! The cat was huge, seventy-five or a hundred pounds, and clearly hungry. The cat’s mouth was wide open, revealing long brilliant white teeth. The nails on his paws were equally long and sharp.

As Johnny turned around to find out what all the commotion was about the cat hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to awkwardly stumble backward up the remainder of the hill where he nearly instantaneously disappeared from view.

Susan screamed, running up the trail after Johnny, and screamed even louder when she saw that Johnny had fallen off of a two hundred foot cliff and was now laying lifeless at its base, near the promised end of trail lake, blood staining the rocks he had landed on when he hit bottom.

Her screams did not last long. She felt the rip of the lion’s talons into her ribcage and neck and she was dead. The lion, hungry for the protein of meat–human or otherwise–began to feast on a complete meal: one he had not enjoyed in a very, very long time.

In the book of the prophet Jeremiah, there is a very interesting scripture that God gives to the Jews:

This is what the Lord says:

Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths. Which is the way to what is good? Then take it, and find rest for yourselves. But they protested: We won’t! (Jeremiah 6:16 - Holman Illustrated Study Bible)

For those who need a second or third version of the Bible for comparison, here is how it is worded in the Thompson Chain Reference of the New International Version (NIV):

This is what the Lord says:

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.”

I believe that in this age of supposedly “post-Christian” America (where we’re also supposedly “post-partisan” and “post-racist”) we are at exactly the crossroads Jeremiah is speaking of: a point in which the Lord is asking us to simply stand and look around at all we see. But there is an enemy on the road, silently, steathily watching us, waiting for the exact moment at which to strike.

And we’re tempted by this side-path or that, even though we don’t know what that path holds for us.

When we’re tempted by this little side-path or that one, we’re supposed to stop and look and ask “What are the ancient paths?” In other words, what are the good paths - where do I walk that I will stay safe?

But we will not do that. Instead, we are looking to man (side-path) for our answers: this scientist, that politician, this theologian, that psychologist, this actor, that TV star, this musician, that artist, this atheist, that “I am Jesus” evangelist.

Anyone but the Lord. We have almost lost contact with Him. Even if we believe in God, which many say they no longer do, He has been relegated to a back corner, a place where we go to connect with Him when we really need something. We no longer trust Him for the answers to our big problems.

Why? Because we’re afraid that if we do, and we let it be known that we do, people will think we’re some kind of nut, that we’re out of our mind. Never mind that people are wrapped up in every other kind of superstition there is, from astrology to 2012.

I believe that even though the Old Testament was essentially given as the treatise by which to live for the Jews, it is also relevant to modern-day Christians. God’s wisdom is transcendent. OK, we no longer live by the Law inscripted on the tablets by God and given to the Hebrews by Moses. There is a new dispensation–that of Grace (yeah!).

That said, we cannot say that God meant those words for only one group of people. My wife has this example: The Jews were forbidden from eating shellfish. Why? Just some rule that God laid down so that He could make sure people were obedient to Him? Not at all! It’s a very practical thing: Shellfish are bottom feeders, and as such are dirty, nasty creatures. They might be good eats, but they’re not good for you.

So when Jeremiah gives us this sage advice, we should be paying attention.

There are five things he says in this extremely important scripture:

1. You’re standing at a crossroads. Seldom before in America have we been at such a period of turmoil and disagreement as we are now. This must be what it was like during the civil war period.

2. You must simply stop and look. The thing you’re being asked to do is simply nothing. Just stop and look.

3. Once you’ve stopped, you’re to ask “Where are the ancient paths?” This is interesting because it is stated as paths, plural, not path, singular. I don’t think Jeremiah means there is more than one path to God - I think here he’s talking about ways in which God would have us to go given the circumstances we’re clearly in. The word ancient also implies that we should be paying far less attention to the current thinking and get back to something old, tried and true.

4. We don’t know where the ancient paths are at. We have to ask God to show them to us because we cannot see them.

5. But they did not. The Jews refused to listen, stubbornly saying “No! We will not!” In other words, the temptations of what was currently going on in their day looked so much better than the ancient paths, they simply refused to cooperate.

The outcome for them was not so good. God doesn’t send an “ask for the ancient paths” call just because He thinks you could somehow benefit from its wisdom. He sends that call because He has had enough and if people don’t obey, He is ready to show them exactly Who is in charge (and it isn’t any American politician!)

So, here’s my thinking: It’s time to get back to God. Get on our knees and ask “Where are the ancient paths? Show those paths to us again!” It’s time to put away the nonsense and filth in which we’ve been reviling ourselves; time to stop equivocating things we know are wrong (e.g. I know porn is wrong, but hey, everyone looks at it); and time to get back to prayer, reading the Bible, and worshiping God.

This lines up with another old Testament scripture:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heavena nd will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (Second Chronicles 7:14 - NIV)

So the question is this: Will we just walk right past the crossroads - going to the right or to the left, or will we stop and look and ask God “Where are the ancient paths?” It’s clear to me that neither of the crossroads paths are the correct ones. What do you think?

This entry was posted on September 26, 2009 at 10:21 and is filed under Spiritual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.