ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS

  • Jeremiah 6: 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Jeremiah 6:16 is one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament. This was written by Jeremiah the prophet unto the people of Israel and Judah. Over and over throughout the Old Testament, Israel turned away from following God and followed after their own hearts and minds. After brief periods of restoration and fellowship with God, they would soon return to sin, ignoring the commandments of the Lord. This is why God pleads with them to ask for the old paths. To return to the good way when Israel walked with God and served Him. This can apply to us today.

To someone who may have not ever known Jesus Christ or the way of truth, their OLD PATHS may not be one that is advisable to walk in. In fact once a person, who was lost and without God in their lives, find Jesus Christ and allow Him to change their lives, old things pass away and all things become new. We find a new beginning, a new birth and a new way of living through faith in Jesus.  The shed blood of Jesus Christ covers all of our past sins. We are forgiven, we are made new. That is why it is called being born again by the Holy Spirit.

To one who found Jesus Christ at an early age and may have gotten away from sound doctrine and constant fellowship with Jesus Christ, the verse in Jeremiah makes more sense. Ask for the OLD PATHS. The old paths seem to mean the paths of righteousness, holiness and walking in the constant presence of God. We do this by studying the Word of God, calling on His name in prayer and seeking Him with a heart that desires to know His will for our lives.

Sometimes we see the church or even ourselves drifting back into sin from which Jesus saved us from. Sometimes we've just allowed the cares of this life to hinder us from seeking Him on a daily basis. This could lead us back into sin or lukewarmness, which Christ warns us of in the letter to the Laodicea church of Revelation chapter 3. In that case the verse in Jeremiah applies and we are to seek the Old Paths. The good way is always God's way. Living in His fellowship and in His will is always the Good Way. Half-baked, backslidden or even so far as living in a state of apostasy is never good. We don't have settle for a half-hearted walk with God.

  • Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

God will fill those who desire His righteousness. He teaches those that desire to be taught. His Spirit draws us, and when we yield to that pull of the Holy Spirit and seek the Lord, we will surely find. If we repent of sin and seek the Lord for the first time in our lives, we become a new creature in Christ and are Born-again by His Holy Spirit. We are baptized into the body of Christ. We are never alone after that.

The more we seek God the more He fills us with His Holy Spirit. The more we desire His presence, the more we will be in His presence. Sin will separate us from His fellowship but His Holy Spirit will convict and try to get us back into His fellowship.

Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. God wants us to be saved and he wants us to be filled with His Spirit. ASK. There is no reason for anyone who reads this to be lost, lukewarm or out of the will of God. Just ask to be returned into His fellowship. He wants to be our friend more than we want to be His.

  • Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
  • 2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Sound doctrine is like rain on a dry ground. It is pleasant and good to be received. To refuse sound doctrine is to allow ourselves to be full of error and deceit. Hiding the word in our hearts is like gentle water upon a thirsty ground.

When we come to Jesus Christ we desire to study his word and walk in sound doctrine. To avoid good doctrine is to leave us open to the temptations of the devil without any ammunition for keep ourselves from sin.

  • The Psalmist once said, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.

The word sanctifies and makes us strong. The word hidden within our inter-most being will sustain us during trials and temptations. We can never get enough of God's word.

Let us not forsake the word and leave ourselves open to the enemy of our souls.  Let us seek the Old Paths were the good way is. God wants to dwell among us. He wants us to walk with Him daily. We are as close to God as we want to be. 

  • Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
  • 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
  • 4- He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

The word is in truth a healing balm for our mind, body and spirit. The word is life to those that find them. I can't say this enough. It brings life now and eternal life hereafter.

  • Isaiah 28 - 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
  • 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
  • 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
  • 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
  • 13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

How sad that to those who first were given the way of eternal life and the word of Almighty God, refused to hear. They chose to go their own way and do their own thing. Some went into idolatry and served vain gods that could not do one thing for them when times of trouble came.

  • Isaiah 29: 24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
  • 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
  • 2.That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

When we seek help from other sources instead of God, we seek in vain. Nothing but evil shall come of it and we loose out on eternal life and fellowship with a loving God. God desires our good, not our bad.

  • Eye has not seen, neither has the ear heard what God has prepared for those that love him.  Found in Isaiah 64:4 and 1 Corinthians 2:9

Those that love him will inherit all things. Those that love him will keep his commandments. Those that love him will seek his fellowship.

Adam and Eve had daily fellowships and walked with God. God came to them in the garden every day to be with them. When disobedience came and sin entered the world, they lost that fellowship and were cast out of the beautiful garden. Jesus Christ, the second Adam, came into the world to get us back into fellowship with God. We don't have to wait until He returns a second time, we can have fellowship now by repenting (turning from) of sin and receiving Jesus Christ as savior and Lord of our lives. He came that we might regain paradise and live eternally with Him. What the first Adam lost, the second Adam got back at his death on Calvary. Amen.

  • John 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
  • 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
  • 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

When we do the Lord's will and listen to Him, we will know His voice and we will not hear a false teacher. Jesus said that His sheep shall know His voice. We shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Sin will no longer be our master. True teachers will seek to give all glory and praise to God and will not accept praise for themselves.

  • Romans 6: 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
  • 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
  • 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
  • 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Seek the Old Paths where is the good way. When we yield to God we are free from the bondage of sin. Whatever we choose to yield to becomes our master. We are servants to sin if we choose to continue in sin. When we come to Christ, we are free from sin. We are now servants to righteousness. Sin is no longer our master. We are free at last. Why would we even think to return to the old nature and become under bondage again.

Here is an example of the bondage of sin. When one has been a drug addict. His mind, body and spirit are a slave to that addiction. They will often steal or even kill to get drug money. They are tortured slaves and helpless to free themselves. This is what sin does to us even though we can't always see this or we may not even be aware of the bondage we are in. Yet like the drug addict, we can't save ourselves and we are lost without any hope. Sin is just as damaging to the soul as drugs are to the body. Sin separates from God and causes us to be lost forever. If we are in sin at the time of our physical death, that sin will send us to a burning hell forever.

God does not desire for us to end up like that. Hell is not something we like to discuss but it is a real place. It is the only place where there is never any escape. It has to be that way in order to rid the world of sin and purify the world in order for God to bring in an eternity without death, sin and suffering.

The only way to escape that place of torment is by faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God sent His Son, Jesus to take our punishment for our own sins. On His death on the cross, Jesus Christ paid for every person on earth's sins. He died in our place. He was the only sinless person to ever live upon the earth. He kept the law given by God to Moses without fail. He was the perfect sacrifice to die in our place. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. He had to die and shed His blood in order for us to be free from the sin and separation from God that sends us to a burning hell.

In order to for the death of Christ to count for us, we have to believe. We have to renounce, turn from sin and believe that Jesus Christ is the savior God sent to save us and grant us everlasting life. There is nothing or no one that can separate you from God if you come to Him and ask Him for His free gift of salvation.

If you are already a believer and have gotten away from your first love for the Lord, there is nothing can hinder you from coming back into His fellowship if you truly desire to do so.

Nothing is worth having or doing if it separates us from being in the will of God. Neither house, family, friends or money is worth more than even one minute in the presence of God. Lets put God first in our lives today.  Dorna

 
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