Are You Asking for the Ancient Paths?

I often ask God to lead me to a verse that He has for me. I then meditate on that verse, sometimes it even ends up as a post.

Yesterday, as I worked out on the treadmill, Jeremiah 6:16 came to mind – “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it…’”

I asked myself this question – Okay, why walk that way? The verse continues, giving me an answer- “…and find rest for your souls.”

Sadly, the end of that verse says this- “But they said, ‘We will not walk in it'” (6:16b).

The context is the Israelites were being judged for their straying from the ways of the patriarchs into the ways of idolatry; i.e., they “lost their way.” They stood at a crossroads; the moment called for a clear decision. The “ancient paths” literally means “the good way.” Read the rest of that passage (6:16-21). The nation rejected the ancient paths, even as prophets were sent as watchmen to warn them of impending danger.

Now that you know the context, and remembering that no biblical text can mean more to us than it meant to the original readers, how can we apply the words of 6:16 to us today – in this time of so much unrest and uncertainty, in this time when rest for our souls seems like wishful thinking, in this time when for most of us, daily rhythms are anything but rhythmic, in this time when there are potentially so many roads we can take as the country begins to re-open.

Here is my stab at an answer – Every day we stand at one crossroad or another. Will we take the way of obedience or the path of selfishness (disobedience)? In His grace and through His mercy, God warns us of pending doom, pending struggle, pending frustration, by taking the wrong path.

I hear God saying to me, I have a choice. He is reminding me that my true and lasting rhythm comes from me listening to His heartbeat and allowing my rhythm to beat in unison with His. And it also comes from periods of rest and more time just me and God, which helps me hear His heartbeat, His voice, His plan. My rhythm, your rhythm, comes from overflow, not overwork. Overflow from the Holy Spirit, overflow from Jesus, overflow from God, overflow from staying on the ancient paths.

What might Jeremiah 6:16 be saying to you? If nothing today, that is perfectly okay.