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&
Brooksyne Weber
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Wednesday, June 8,
2022
Brown
Thrasher
(Photo
by Doris High)
"The
Tyranny Of The New" (Part 3)
Asking
For The Ancient Paths
Message
summary: God called the kingdom of Judah to
"ask for the ancient paths". That's a good word for
every generation including ours!
“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’” (Jeremiah 6:16). “Avoid evil and
walk straight ahead. Don’t go one step off the right way”
(Proverbs 4:27).
In life, as we obey the
Bible we have a clearly marked path, what the writer of
Hebrews calls “the race marked out for us” (Hebrews
12:1). If we pay close attention to the Scriptures, the Holy
Spirit’s guiding, the Apostle’s Doctrine, and "the
pattern of sound teaching" (see 2 Timothy 1:13) laid out for us we
have a clearly marked path. All along we will encounter many
crossroads that may look appealing but we must stay on the
clearly marked path.
In our main text today we
again examine a powerful word from the Lord in Jeremiah
6:16. Yesterday's message focused on the
phrase, "This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the
crossroads and look'". The
Lord called the kingdom of Judah and He calls us to “Stand
at the crossroads and look".
Today let us consider two
requests the Lord wants His people to ask, "Ask for the
ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and
walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls”.
There are many crossroads in life and we must make an
ongoing decision to stay on the ancient paths, seeking where
the good way is, and determining to steadfastly walk in it.
It is in these paths that we find rest for our souls.
Jeremiah’s ministry was to the Kingdom of Judah in the years just prior to the Babylonian Exile. His ministry essentially urged the people to repent of their sins and turn back to God.
Jeremiah’s ministry was to the Kingdom of Judah in the years just prior to the Babylonian Exile. His ministry essentially urged the people to repent of their sins and turn back to God.
God called the kingdom of
Judah to "ask for the ancient paths". Today the last
thing most people are interested in is "ancient paths".
Other versions use helpful variants, "old paths"
(KJV), "the old, reliable paths" (NET), "the
old, godly way" (NLT). Our culture is obsessed with
the lure of the new. For so many the ancient paths have no
appeal at all and are generally scoffed at. “Out with the
old, in with the new” is the mantra for many.
The Precept online commentary makes this point,
The Precept online commentary makes this point,
“The modern evangelical
church in the new millennium is in grave danger of
stepping off the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16, Isaiah
35:8) especially as it seeks to 'emerge' from the tried
and true old paths. Things have not changed much because
man’s heart is still as deceitful as ever. “The heart
is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).
“Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” The meaning here is spiritual and a call to obedience as found in God’s holy Word, which is the good way. By walking in it one will truly find rest for the soul. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
But many then and so many, many today emphatically declare "We will not walk in it". The “ancient paths” are maligned from so many sources. But we need to stay on the “ancient paths". We must commit our lives to being obedient servants to Jesus Christ our Lord, to the entire infallible, authoritative Bible, and to the great example set for us by scores of dedicated, sold-out believers throughout the ages of the Bible and the Church.
Our earnest outlook should be, “I stand at the crossroads and look; I ask for the ancient paths where the good way is, and by God’s grace I choose to walk in it and accept Your promise that I will find rest for my soul.”
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Heavenly Father, as I
stand at the crossroads of decision
where I am pulled in many directions, I
direct my attention to the well-worn
path marked out by faithful followers of
God throughout the centuries – the
faithful ones who remained true to Your
ancient law whose hearts did not betray
the One True God. With godly
determination I earnestly desire to
follow in the steps of the Master that
leads me to find rest for my soul on
earth and secures a heavenly home where
my soul will no longer grow weary or
disheartened. By Your grace I move
forward in the ancient path laid out for
me through Christ our Lord in whose name
we pray. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
I Had Fun Watching a
Brown Thrasher (photo
selection by our friend Doris High who has
posted her photos online for many years)
Finally
today:
Early in
our marriage Brooksyne taught children’s
backyard Bible studies in St Marys, PA,
the community where we lived in northern
Pennsylvania, using a small Bible booklet
of 31 Proverbs including today's 2nd text,
one for each day of the month from the
Good News Bible. She put the verses to
music and here we are some 40 years later
and the tune came right back to me as I
prepared today’s message! "Avoid evil
and walk straight ahead. Don’t go one
step off the right way" (Proverbs
4:27). We still hear from a number of
those children, now middle-aged adults of
course, who still recall these verses due
to the catchy tunes and animated motions
Brooksyne used to reinforce them. In the
photo she is seated on the other side of
the flannelgraph board. Who remembers the
flannelgraph as a
visual teaching aid? Especially the
Betty Lukens Flannel kits that Brooksyne
used for many years. Video
Yesterday
this brush hog mowed the weeds between the
road and farm field in front of our house.
Seeing a brush hog at work reminds me of
when I would brush hog (a colorful term)
on Brooksyne's family's property in
Arkansas. Typically these mowers attach to
the back of a farm tractor using the
three-point hitch and are driven via the
power take-off (PTO). It has blades that
are not rigidly attached to the drive like
a lawnmower blade, but are on hinges so if
the blade hits a rock or stump, it bounces
backward and inward, and then centrifugal
force makes it go outwards again. For many
years Brooksyne's dad, Brooklyn Sherrell,
brush hogged for family, neighbors,
friends, and his own property, apart from
his full-time truck driving for Auto
Convoy.
You never
know what you will see on the Old Windmill
Farm. Yesterday Ester accompanied an older
friend, Nancy, and went a second time to
see "David" at the Sight and Sound
Theater. Since the Old Windmill Farm is
only two miles from S&S they stopped
afterwards and Ester captured this baby
goat going for a piggy back ride on
camera. From the looks of things the
drooping oversized pig's belly is the
reason for its swayback posture rather
than the playful goat.
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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