Proverbs 4:10-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“10Listen, my son, and receive my words,
and the years of your life will be many.
11I will guide you in the way of wisdom;
I will lead you on straight paths.
12When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13Hold on to instruction; do not let go.
Guard it, for it is your life.”

Listen and Obey

Now, this counsel is not just for sons, but for sons and daughters. And the Father that we must be listening to is God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. This, nonetheless, is not necessarily a promise of long life for all of us, as it was for him (the one who wrote this). But the remainder of the instructions here match with God’s instructions in the New Testament to us who are of genuine biblical faith in Jesus Christ. So, take them to heart!

If we are willing, and if we are submissive to our Lord in humble surrender to His will and purpose for our lives, as those who by faith in Jesus Christ have denied self, died to sin (repented), and who are now following our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands, by His grace, He will guide us in the ways of wisdom. He will counsel us in the ways that are right, godly, morally pure, upright, faithful, honest, and obedient to our Lord’s commandments.

When You Walk

Our walks are our life practices, our lifestyles, the things we believe and act upon and say and do and think and feel. And this has everything to do with our characters, who we are deep down inside us, in reality, and not in fakery. Our walks are also motivated by what is stored up in our hearts. For it is out of our hearts that come our thinking, attitudes, words and behaviors. For our walks (lifestyles) have everything to do with who is truly God over our lives.

So, if we are being guided by the wisdom and counsel of God in our daily walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and so we are now living to please God, and no longer for the sinful pleasures of the flesh, then we are blessed. If Jesus is truly master of our lives, and if our lives are committed to doing His will for our lives, we are blessed. God will help us to resist the devil and to walk worthy of our God and to do what is pleasing to our Lord, in practice.

Proverbs 4:14-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“14Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
15Avoid it; do not travel on it.
Turn from it and pass on by.
16For they cannot sleep
unless they do evil;
they are deprived of slumber
until they make someone fall.
17For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.”

The Path of The Wicked

What is the path of the wicked? It is the path (way) of sin, evil, immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, idolatry, corruptness, depravity, dishonor, disrespect, self-indulgence, selfishness, murdering, and rebellion against God and against God’s commands. And a path is a way of living, a lifestyle, what is being practiced deliberately and habitually. For many, their paths are living in addiction to sinful practices while not obeying God, in practice.

And this is not saying that we will never sin or that if we do sin that we are cut out of the family of God (see 1 John 2:1-2). This is not saying that we must live in absolute sinless perfection or we are not of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against God. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not have eternal life with God.

The False Gospel

Sadly, many of the wicked are pastors and elders of “churches,” and/or they are missionaries and evangelists, and/or they are authors of “Christian” literature. And they are heads of governments who profess faith in Jesus but whose lives do not reflect what they claim to believe. But they are people of influence who people cling to and believe whatever they tell them. But they are liars and deceivers who teach lies to the people. We must test them.

For so many of them today are taking the Scriptures out of context and they are twisting them to teach what they do not preach, if taught in the correct biblical context. For they are teaching that a mere verbal profession of faith in Jesus is enough to secure us salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed, regardless of how we live. Many are teaching that God does not require that we die to sin (repent) and obey His commands, but He Does!

The True Gospel

Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, know the truth, believe the truth, and live the truth and not the lies.

God Leads Us on Straight Paths
An Original Work / August 4, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Believe Him

An Original Work / July 15, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My heart cries: Lord, won’t You hear me
Seeking You for the answers
To my heartache and questions
I have concerning my life?
Speak, Lord, to me right now.

“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me
With your life’s circumstances?
Give your all on the altar
In submission of your will
To My purpose for you.

“Surrender your life completely
To your Lord and your Savior.
He has all things planned for you
For His glory and honor.
He’ll work all things for good.

“Believe Him. He will fulfill all
Of His promises to you
For your life and your future.
Trust Him. Rest in His love.
He’ll give you peace from above.”