The Crossroads

The Crossroads

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. - Jeremiah 6:16

Today I can draw your attention to Jeremiah 6:16. I want to talk to you today about what to do when you're at a crossroads. All of us will face in life critical decisions must be made, times when different roads intersect. We need to figure out which way to go and what to do making the right decision when you're at a crossroads. Then you can find rest for your souls. This verse speaks about, on the other hand, making wrong decisions when you're at a crossroads in life, we can have either short-term or long-term ramifications depending on the seriousness of the matter at hand. So it's important that we make decisions wisely and seek the wisdom of the Lord, when we're at a crossroads in our life.

Now before we deal with a practical sense from Jeremiah 6:16, I first want to give us the historical background. We have the context and the perspective of what Jeremiah is writing about here. The people of Judah are at a crossroads. They're at a critical point of decision the result of which will have far-reaching implications. The choice before them is whether they turned from their idolatry and rebellion against God or whether they stay the course and suffer the consequences for it. God lays out some wisdom for them here in Jeremiah 6:16. Urging them to make the right decision, giving them counsel from above and telling them that if they would make the right decision and choose the right path they will have rest for their souls. But unfortunately the last part of verse 16 says that the people said in response we're not going to walk in it. They refused to walk in the wisdom and counsel of God that they might have rest for their souls.

Furthermore verse 17 says, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ In other words God is referring to the prophets as Watchmen. God sent prophets to warn the people but again verse 17b says but they said “we will not listen.” Understand not only does God give them wisdom for how to choose the right path, he gives them warnings in advance about what's going to happen if you don't choose the right path. So they didn't receive the wisdom of God. They didn't heed the warning of God and as a result they brought disaster upon themselves. Again, look at verse 18 & 19 says, Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it”. We jump further down to verse 22& 23. This is what the Lord says: Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.” They are armed with a bow and spear. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men and battle formation to attack you. O daughter of Zion.

The nation that God is going to use is Babylonia to bring discipline to the people whom he loves. In 586 BC they subdued the capital city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. All because they rejected the wisdom of God and the warnings of God. That's the historical background.

Now let’s go back to verse 16 and look at it from a practical standpoint. The broader question is this: what do you do when you are at a crossroads in your life? All of us will from time to time be standing at a crossroads of life, having to make some critical decisions that can impact life in big and small ways. Sometimes the choice will be clear and obvious and other times the choice will not be clearly obvious. But verse 16 gives us some practical wisdom from God to help us to make right decisions, when we find ourselves at a crossroads. So that we can find rest for our souls. How many of you could use a little more rest for your souls? Let me just see your hands. I mean all of us could say that because we live in a very high-stress, high paced area of the world.

One of the things that infringes most regarding rest for our souls is when we're making unwise decisions. It's when we come to a crossroads and we're not making a decision with the wisdom from above, later we will regret it and so I think it's good for us to look at verse 16 from the practical standpoint. How can we glean some wisdom from above when we are standing at a crossroads in our life. We might have God's wisdom and find rest for our souls. Look at verse 16 again on the screen for you. I'm gonna highlight different things in this verse. How to find wisdom during the different crossroads of our lives. This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV). There are four directions that God gives us here in verse 16. Basically, four verbs that we see in this verse.