Job 28:7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:

Job 28:8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

For centuries, men have anchored and measured their comings and goings by way of a fixed point.  Just as the wise men followed a star to the stable of a Savior, Genesis 1:14 reveals to us that the lights in the firmament have been set into order that they may be a fixed point by which days, years, signs, and seasons are determined.  In like manner, within the context of every man made law and commonly adopted theory, there is generally a principle that governs and serves as a point of reference.  This is what C.H. Spurgeon called  “a nail in a sure place.”

By way of example, the United States of America is governed by a fluid and ever changing government, the makeup of which is as consistent as  the colors of a political chameleon whose appearance is altered in accordance to the desires and demands of the populace.  Yet America’s destiny is anchored in a declaration and a constitution, the content and principles of which are the compass that directs her path.

The way of a man is an often discussed topic in the Scripture.  David stated in the first Psalm that the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly shall be as a tree that is planted by the rivers of water whose fruit is brought forth in due season.  There is spiritual prosperity in the life of he whose steps are ordered of the Lord. 

Scripture reveals to us that God watches the ways of  man with a very close and unwavering eye.  Solomon stated that the ways of man are before His eyes and he ponders the goings of man.  God has divinely ordained a clear and certain path for every child of God.  

The path of the righteous is a highway called holiness.  It should be the preeminent pursuit of every Christian to exhibit the characteristics of the very nature of God in their life.  Made in His image, we are to strive to show forth His reflection in us.

It is amidst the pursuit of horizons that often a man is guilty of placing the comforts of creature before the desires of the Creator.  In the midst of life’s pursuits, we must each have a point upon which to fix our eyes amidst the chaotic  moving and shaking of the world around us.  It is he who sets his face like a flint upon the countenance of the Creator  who shall not waver.  To set one’s heart upon Him without wavering, one must possess certain fixed points to which to turn in times of trial. 

Submission to the Man of God…

For every child of God, there must be a Moses in their life whose spiritual guidance can be trusted.  As Moses stretched forth his rod over the Red Sea, there was a miraculous standing of waters that made possible the overcoming of the seemingly insurmountable.  Pastoral guidance is the practical guiding light that will make clear even the foggiest of life’s paths.  For how can a man be saved without a preacher?

Faith in the Word of God…

Faced with the sacrifice of his only son, no doubt Abraham hearkened back to a promise made to him somewhere on the sandy floor of an arid desert many years before.  It was that day promised that out of him would spring a great nation.  It was a tenacious trust in the word of an unfailing God that prompted the Father of the Faithful’s statement to his son that the Lord would provide “himself a lamb.”  It was Abraham’s trust while at trial and his resilience in adversity’s face that ushered him to the place of being called by James, “a Friend of God.”

Pursuit of the Presence of God…

Overflowing banks of the mighty Jordan river were met with the sure feet of  priests bearing upon their shoulders God’s presence in the ark.  The parting of the raging river served as a reminder that the seemingly impossible was possible when led by the presence of the Almighty.  While those around us are spiritually desensitized and disrupted by the cacophony of voices from this world, it is imperative that the righteous man pursue God’s presence with a passionate resolve.

The world is ever changing.  The winds are ever blowing.  At times the path may seem dark and the future one of despair.  However, the feet of a righteous man are as sure as a tree that has been planted.  A righteous man hangs his future upon a nail in a sure place.

Psa 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

—Jonathan Sanders