The Ways of the Lord are Right
Study Text: Hosea 14:8 - 9
Introduction:
The Bible in the book of Hosea urges anyone reading it to live wisely by obeying God’s precepts because they are completely true, and will lead those who follow His ways to be well pleasing unto God.
The ways of God is the path to our greatest possible fulfillment, and anyone who chooses to walk in it wholeheartedly is described as a wise person.
The biblical idea of righteousness is to live in accordance with God's design.
God designed the world to be good. This is to be achieved by humans working in harmony with God, in terms of loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:37-39).
When we walk in God's design, it leads to our greatest fulfillment. To know God gains us the greatest experience of life. It is the path not only to our own fulfillment, but it also brings life to those around us.
The reason for seeking to understand the things laid out in the Word of God is because the ways of the Lord are right. The right road leads to life, benefit, truth, and flourishing.
We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:
1. The Characteristics of the Ways of the Lord
2. The Commandment to Walk in the Ways of the Lord
3. The Consequences of not Walking in the Ways of the Lord.
1. The Characteristics of the Ways of the Lord:
God's Ways are Not Our Ways
Isaiah 55: 5 - 8
God is infinite, but we are finite. He knows the end from the beginning while we see just a short part of the now.
Examples through the scriptures and experience clearly illustrate that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts re not our thoughts.
When you know God intimately, and walk in His ways wholeheartedly, there will be Peace coming into your life. God gives you rest. There is stability. There is sufficiency. And you learn that no matter how bad the problem, not only is God necessary; but God only is more than enough.
His ways are above our ways. As you maintain a regular healthy fellowship with Him, He begins to manifest Himself to you, and you begin to know His ways.
It is important to know the ways of God in order to relate to an Invisible Creator, our Heavenly Father. Here are a few pointers to help us to understand the ways of the Lord in order to gain maximum benefit from our divine relationship and to be more pleasing in His sight.
1. Moses knew the ways of God, but the people only saw His works.
There is a big difference between knowing and walking in the Ways of the Lord, and witnessing the works of the Lord. Those who knows the ways of the Lord don't seek after the miracles of God, but rather, they seek the God of Miracles.
2. Isaiah says God’s ways are past finding out but gives a tip to understanding them.
The ways of the Lord are not easily discovered. Only those who sincerely and diligently seek Him will find Him. Hebrews 11:6
3. David pleaded that God would teach him His ways and promised to teach it to others.
We need to greatly delight in the ways of the Lord, and greatly desire to know it and walk in it, and this will help us to earnestly seek Him in prayers.
4. Jesus not only knew the ways of God but became THE WAY!
Jesus is all about the ways of God. We can only get to know God and walk in His ways through Him. John 14:6
5. By watching Jesus in action we learn the ways of God.
We became righteous before God by the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus Christ, and we remain in the righteousness of God, only as we learn about Jesus and walk in obedience to all His guidance and clear instructions. John 17: 17, Hebrews 12:2
2. The Commandment to Walk in the Ways of the Lord:
The righteous person follows the two great commandments, as set forth by Jesus. First, they love God with all their being, which includes believing that His ways are for our best.
Second, the righteous person seeks the best for others, and seeks to serve their best interest in a way that pleases God, without regard to the world's opposition. Jesus summarized these two basic commandments during His ministry on earth (Matthew 22:37-39).
Obedience to God's principles allows us to follow the right path leading to life, but disobedience causes us to stumble and fall, as Israel did in the Bible days. This was in accordance with God's covenant with Israel, which was laid out clearly (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
God gave Israel the choice, and clear consequences for the choice they made.
Anyone with wisdom should learn to walk in God's ways, and not in his own ways. But someone without wisdom and discernment will certainly violate God's revealed standards and fall.
This principle that applied to Israel is restated in the New Testament. For example:
"the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
(Galatians 6:8)
The wrong road leads to death, violence, deception, and destruction (Hosea 4:2).
The Bible tells us that there are two groups of people: those who are righteous and those who are wicked.
A righteous person learns to depend on God and seeks to do what is right by following His ways.
A person is righteous if they follow God's ways of love and service toward others.
When he sins, the righteous person humbles himself before God and asks God for forgiveness.
Unlike a righteous person who seeks God's forgiveness, and recognizes that aligning with His ways is for our best, a wicked person is arrogant. He is a transgressor because he does not consider God's commands to provide his best benefit. Rather, the transgressor thinks he knows what is best for himself.
The righteous person would understand that the path to greatness is through humility and obedience (1 Peter 5:5-6).
The wicked person considers the path to greatness to be through exploiting and elevating themselves above others, lording over them (Matthew 20:25-28, 1 Peter 5:3).
Those who are righteous love God's principles and will walk in them. But the transgressors are unwise and arrogant because they consistently violate the boundary that God has established. And because they do not love God's precepts, they will stumble in them.
It is similar to the proposition God gave Israel in His covenant with them, telling them if they followed His commands it would lead to life and blessing, and if they disobeyed His commands it would lead to violence, abuse, and death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
In His grace, God has told us clearly and specifically how to live in a manner that leads to our greatest flourishing, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we walk in obedience to His commandments.
3. The Consequences of not Walking in the Ways of the Lord:
The Bible distinguishes the righteous from the wicked according to whether or not they walk in the ways of God.
The ways of God are right, so not everyone can walk in them. Only the righteous can walk in His ways.
Sinners, that is, the wicked, can never walk in them. They are destined to stumble because of His ways.
Jesus teaches that the righteousness of God is an important standard for determining whether one can enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the eyes of God, those who do not believe in God or do not follow God’s decrees are on the side of the wicked.
We, too, are sinners who used to belong to the wicked, but now, we are walking in the ways of God. By following the ways of God, we are born again and are now among the righteous. Ephesians 2:1-4
There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)
We can only know where we are going when we walk in the way of the Lord. When we fail to walk in the way of the Lord we end up walking in the way of the wicked that have forsaken God.
Adam and Eve’s choice to not walk in the way of the Lord not only affected their own lives but also affected ours for in Adam “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
The Israelites were so blessed with the presence of God yet they wanted to be in control of their own lives as the nations around them. They wanted to be like the others who were around them. They wanted to serve themselves and other gods.
The Scriptures describe serving self as relying on the flesh. The flesh is a mind-set that acts contrary to the Word of God. Reliance on the flesh is to rely on our emotions or on our own selfish desires and pleases the devil as it ends up doing Satan’s will.
The walk in the way of the wicked often happens in such a way that one is not even aware of it.
Reading the first Psalm describes how it happens. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers”. (Psalm 1:1)
The walk of such a man begins with listening to what the wicked say. At first he only listens while walking away and thinks he can never become like them. The next time he stops to listen and before long he is sitting with them and joining in their activities. All this could have been avoided if he had “delight in the law of the LORD, and meditated on it day and night”. (Psalm 1:2)
While there is abundant blessing to the righteous that walks in the Ways of the Lord, which is illustrated by the picture and profit of the tree that is planted by the river side. Psalms 1:3
We were told point blank that the unrighteous are not so blessed, rather, calamities and condemnation will be their portions all through.
The good news here is that, there is always the opportunity to crossover from being among the wicked to join the company of the righteous while one is still alive, but the opportunity is lost when the life is gone.
Conclusion:
As believers we can never forget how much God loves us and that we are His beloved children. The just have been made the righteousness of Christ to enable them have an intimate walk with Him.
This righteousness is God’s own righteousness and gives us access to His presence. All believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit and united in their righteousness.
The righteous must endeavour to remain steadfast in the Ways of the Lord and ensure living a life pleasing unto Him at all times. 2 Corinthians 5:15
