Pathways Devotions, Summer/Fall 2025
Week 3
The Road to Health
This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:8)
IN WORD
We don’t try to drive our cars in the water, and we don’t try to speed our boats down the highway. Why? That’s not what they were made for. So why do we use ourselves for purposes we were not made for? Why, when we were created to be entirely preoccupied with our Creator, do we become entirely preoccupied with ourselves? This does damage to our minds, and our minds affect our bodies. Our thoughts become distorted, our bodies become sick, and we end up a mess. A self-absorbed mess. We are misplaced vehicles on the wrong course.
Do you believe that? Do you understand that we were created to be fascinated by, overwhelmed with, and enraptured in our Maker? The fallen mind avoids this at all costs. We try to make a name for ourselves. We try to get in good with the right people. We read self-help books. We learn various philosophies and methods that will lead us to a better way of life. And it’s all about us.
God points us away from ourselves and toward Him. He is to be our vision, our passion, our love. So far-reaching is this principle that it can bring health to our bodies. When we align ourselves with our created purpose, we are like the perfect part in a precision machine. We can function without undue wear and tear. Or we’re like a beautiful piece of music played in the right key. We can perform without grafting on everyone around us and depressing ourselves in the process.
IN DEED
We place a high premium on good health. In a sick and fallen world, it is a valued commodity. We try to eat well, take our vitamins, select the right doctor, exercise often, and pray to avoid deadly diseases. But if we haven’t immersed our minds in reality—that God is our all in all—we haven’t taken the first step toward good health. Your mind has a profound effect on your physiology. Let it always be nourished by eternal truth.
READ: Proverbs 3
Week 4
Protective Wisdom
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. (Proverbs 4:6)
IN WORD
Godly wisdom protects. This verse is clear. But from what does it protect us? Disease? Calamity? Conflict? Perhaps not always, but sometimes these are the results of unwise choices. Most of all, godly wisdom protects us from the self-inflicted disaster of superficial decisions. It keeps us from sacrificing ourselves to the deity of self-will.
Samson is one of the Bible’s most tragic heroes (Judges 13 – 16). Dedicated from before his birth to the service of God and endowed with superhuman strength, the man was captive to his own fleeting impulses. This deliverer was bound because he developed an early pattern of satisfying his passing urges at the expense of long-term goals. Lack of wisdom held as a helpless captive the strongest man on earth.
So it is with us. We are called to make life-changing decisions—whom to marry, what career to pursue—at an early age, when we are barely equipped to make them. Many have made mindless choices and devastated their future because of a simple lack of wisdom. With all the resources of the eternal God at our fingertips, we often decide things with our own finite minds. And as we age, we must make repeated choices that will affect our own lives and the lives of those around us profoundly. The sooner we learn godly wisdom, the safer we will be. Wisdom protects us from futility.
IN DEED
We are given a very brief amount of time on this planet. But what we do here can have eternal impact on ourselves and others. We must invest our time. We must invest our resources. We must direct everything at our disposal toward an eternal Kingdom. Without God’s wisdom, years are wasted. We make self-defeating decisions. We squander opportunities to serve God and bear eternal fruit. Why should we never forsake wisdom? It’s a matter of self-defense. It protects us from a world of evil, and it protects us from ourselves.
READ: Proverbs 4
Week 5
Your Account
A man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. (Proverbs 5:21)
IN WORD
Have you sought dramatic change in your life? Consider the fact of Proverbs 5:21. Nothing will so radically alter your perspective as the knowledge of this truth. It is an older version of Paul’s sobering observation: “Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).
Jesus illustrated the principle with several parables (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:1-12, 19:11-27). We are not left on this planet as unobserved, unaccountable masters of our own selves. We are seen. We are accountable to our Creator. And one day we will stand before Him to explain what we have done and what we have left undone. We will have to own up to every thoughtless comment (Matthew 12:36). We will have to explain the discrepancy between the resources we’ve been given and the resources we’ve used.
This can be a frightening thought, but it is not to meant to frighten us. Before our accounting we have already been given assurance of forgiveness in Christ. Those who are not in Christ have reason to fear indeed, but we who believe have been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus. What meaning, then, does this verse have for us? It is sobering in spite of our salvation. One day at the end of our earthly lives, we will stand before God with a full understanding that we had the power of Jesus Himself working within us, and an acute awareness that we did so little with it.
IN DEED
These words are not for judgment, they are for encouragement. God gives them to stir us up. They prompt us to live with an understanding of whose we are and why we were made. Let the truth of God’s ownership sink in. When it does, it changes everything. Your life will never be the same.
READ: Proverbs 5
Week 6
Fidelity
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. (Proverbs 6:25)
IN WORD
We may read over this verse too quickly. After all, prostitution does not seem to be a rampant problem in the contemporary church. There are certainly indiscretions among its members, and adultery is tragically more common than in the past. But for those to whom soliciting a prostitute is not a viable temptation, this verse and others like it might often go unnoticed.
That is unfortunate. Why? Because there are deeper things at stake here than literal sexual immorality. Those who are wise know that the human heart is tempted by all sorts of adultery. Our opportunities for betraying the heart of our Lord are vast in their number and diversity. When Solomon warns us against lusting after the beauty of another, he knows—and the Spirit behind the Scripture speaks—of thousands of lusts by which we are drawn away from God. Did we think this passage was only about husbands and wives? It is also the marriage between the Son and His bride, the church. We cannot be captivated by another. Fidelity to our Bridegroom is paramount.
IN DEED
What are your temptations? They do not have to be of a sexual nature to carry the warnings of this passage. Any infidelity to our God is dangerous business. He is a jealous God; the devastation of a damaged relationship with our Creator is far worse than even the devastation of a beloved husband or wife having an affair with another person. Is your relationship with God like a lovers’ union? If it isn’t, it falls short of the divine romance for which we were created. If it is, then you know the importance of commitment and the dangerous power of other lusts. Flee from them. Your Lover wants all of you to Himself.
READ: Proverbs 6
Week 7
The Deeper Pursuit
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. (Proverbs 7:2)
IN WORD
Why would we want to have the mind of Christ? There are many appealing aspects of having the kind of wisdom that comes from above: Our God has knowledge of the future, He knows the foundations on which He laid this universe, and He knows the fabric of our being. Access to this kind of insight is attractive indeed. It would help us make decisions, understand other people, and live in peace and fulfillment. But there is a higher reason we should want God’s wisdom, a more noble appeal to His understanding. We should first and foremost want to have His mind not because it benefits us but because we love who He is.
We often take a utilitarian approach to God. We want to be filled with His Spirit because it will lead to more fruitful ministry, more fulfilling relationships, and more power in our personal growth. In other words, we want God’s Spirit and His mind as a means to self-improvement or better circumstances. But God is not primarily our self-help technique; He is the Lover of our souls. No love relationship fulfills its purpose when one party selfishly uses the other for his or her own benefit. Love relationships are about love.
IN DEED
Is your relationship with God about love? Or is it about getting more of Him for your own personal improvement? His mind and Spirit are available to us, and His presence in our lives will, in fact, change us dramatically. But do you pursue God simply for the change He can bring you? If so, take a step back and try another approach.
Come to God with a confession of your love for Him. If you can say it honestly, tell Him you want a deeper experience of His presence because you love who He is—His purity, His mercy, His love, His holiness, His power, His wisdom. Do not move on to requests; bask in His character. Have fellowship with Him. Your service and your place in His Kingdom will grow out of this foundation of love.
READ: Proverbs 7
Week 8
Sin and a Holy God
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13)
IN WORD
The progression is a very natural one, but it is exceedingly dangerous. We struggle with our sin; we find we can’t overcome it, so we accept it as part of who we are; and then we begin to redefine our own nature. We did the best we could, after all, so our human nature must not have been that bad to begin with. We end up with an “I’m okay, you’re okay” perspective. We aim to do better, but we’re comfortable if we can’t.
The problem with being comfortable with sin is that it is entirely contrary to the nature of God. God is not comfortable with sin. He never just lets it slide. He paid for it—in full and with great sacrifice. From Genesis 3 through Revelation 20, it was never a light matter.
The book of Proverbs has told us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. How? If we have a fear of God, we got it by rightly understanding how awesome He is. We got a glimpse of His holiness that drove us to our faces. We understood our need to plead for a reconciliation with an offended Creator. We saw His goodness, and by comparison, everything else looked evil. And since God is the standard by which all things are measured, our own nature didn’t just look evil to us; it was evil. We grew to hate it.
IN DEED
There is a false attitude in many segments of the contemporary church. It is the belief that sin, being universal to human nature, is not all that serious. That belief leads one to a god who is lenient, as opposed to a God who forgives. The first god is nonexistent; only the latter can save.
Do you hate sin? Is it detestable to you? Then you are in line with God’s wisdom. You know the difference between a lenient deity and a forgiving One, and you know which one to bow to.
READ: Proverbs 8
Week 9
Where Wisdom Begins
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10
IN WORD
We’re uncomfortable with the idea of fearing God. We defend Him as One whose love is so great He needs not be feared. As 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love drives out fear.” So we redefine fear as “awe” and “reverence.” Yet the Scriptures use the term “fear of God” frequently enough to give us the impression that something more than awe is appropriate. It is the kind of fear that terrified the disciples when they heard God’s voice at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:6); that overwhelmed Isaiah when he cried out: “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined!” in God’s presence (Isaiah 6:5); and that drove John facedown at the sight of the glorified Son (Revelation 1:17).
Why does a God of love tell us that wisdom begins when we fear Him? Because when we approach the Holy One with a casual familiarity, we are not living in reality. We do not take Him as seriously as we ought. Fear—not of punishment but of the overwhelming greatness of God—sees Him correctly. When we stand on the edge of the vast, bottomless chasm that separates us from Him, and we behold the immeasurable expense He paid to bridge that chasm, we experience fear. Fear of what would have been if we had never known the gospel. Fear of our own unworthiness. Fear of the absolute dedication to Him that is now required of us. When this fear grips us, we begin to understand the enormity of the gospel and of our God. That understanding begins to rearrange our lives. And that is what wisdom is all about.
IN DEED
It is vital that we know God’s love and rest comfortably in it. But a true understanding of God’s love begins with an overwhelming awareness of His greatness, holiness, and power as they contrast our own sinful nature. There is nothing more fear-inducing than that. But this is where we must begin. This will shape our self-awareness, our work, our prayers—everything we think and do. It will make us wise.
READ: Proverbs 9
Week 10
A Refuge and a Ruin
The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil. (Proverbs 10:29)
IN WORD
Early explorers who dared to cross oceans quickly learned a valuable lesson: The currents of the sea could carry them to their destination, if followed correctly. Those currents could also divert them from their journey, if ignored. The very same currents can have either a positive effect or a negative effect on a sailing vessel; it all depends on the knowledge and the response of the crew.
God’s wisdom is, in some ways, like the currents of the sea. It can carry us where we need to go. It is our refuge, the means to keep us safe and bring us to our desired destination. But only if we follow it. The benefit of His wisdom only applies to those who are willing to line up with it and set their course accordingly. Otherwise, those same beneficial currents will lead to ruin.
History is filled with millions who have tried to follow a path contrary to God’s wisdom. It may be a false religion or philosophy, a personal ambition, a political agenda, an economic strategy, or any other thing that we humans, in our ignorance, may set our hearts on. Millions have sailed against the currents of God and failed. Their end is miserable. What looked so promising was found to be futile. Anything that contradicts the eternal wisdom of the living God always is.
IN DEED
Do you have a personal agenda? Plans for your future? Strategies for living a comfortable or rewarding life? Examine them closely and ask yourself if they are thoroughly consistent with God’s ways. If not, you could sail comfortably for thousands of miles, thinking you’re headed toward the right destination, only to find out you’re far, far away. Even slight variations in the beginning can lead you way off course in the end. If you find out when you finally hit shore, it’s too late. Plan now. Learn the currents. Take refuge in the wisdom of God.
READ: Proverbs 10