Proverbs 14:12. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
The warning in this proverb is pretty serious. Solomon is telling us that a person can be convinced that they are doing the right thing, but it is actually the wrong thing. What does that mean? It means we can’t always trust ourselves to know right from wrong.
Of course the world around us with its “expressive individualism” wants you to nothing but follow what seems right to you. “Follow your heart” is our credo. But what if your heart is wrong? Wicked even? Has anyone ever thought of that? Yes, Solomon did, along with every other writer of the scriptures. The prophet Jeremiah told us that our hearts are desperately wicked, beyond knowledge. This means that your heart’s choice can seem right at the time and even make you feel good, but that same choice can be leading you into all kinds of trouble, even death.
And that’s what makes the warning of this proverb so serious. Life and death are in the balance. Think for a moment about how most of the world thinks about salvation. There is a way that seems right to billions of people – works salvation. Earning our way to Heaven by our righteous deeds. This is the way of every religion on Earth. Do enough good and you will secure your place with God, or the World Soul, or Nirvana or something. But in the end this way is death. Death today and death for eternity. Death in your soul as you try to control your own eternal destiny, and death for your soul as you have rejected the grace of God.
In Christ we can actually know what is right. Not what seems right, but what is actually right. Christ is right. His life is right. And union with his life makes us right. Right with God. Now we too can live the righteous life of the cross. We can walk the path of suffering for the sake of others, a path that never seems right to anyone, unless they’ve embraced it in Jesus.
Turn the other cheek? Go the extra mile? Don’t return evil for evil? Overcome evil with good?
No the gospel doesn’t make sense to those who are perishing. The cruciform life doesn’t seem right to those whose only hope is in their own autonomy. But for those of us who are being saved it is the power of God for today and tomorrow. For the present and the future. For life everlasting.
You: Have you ever done something that seemed like a good idea but it ended in a really bad result?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you have eternal life allow you to embrace the way that doesn’t seem right to the world but is the way of the cross?
Christ in you: In what way have you been living out the way of the cross even when it makes no sense to do so?
Pray: Father, I know I can trust the heart of Christ that you’ve placed in me. Help me to live the life of your Son even in his suffering, even when it doesn’t seem right. Amen.
To Live is Christ 