Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Proverbs 2:8
Last year for our grandson’s birthday we took him on a little weekend getaway. While we were away we did lots of fun things and ate at places that he would just really enjoy. But, I think the most fun he had was when we went bowling. Considering how little he bowls he’s actually a pretty good little bowler.
While we were bowling we noticed a family who was bowling a few lanes over from ours and as we watched, we noticed that they put the little guards up so that the ball never went into the gutter and almost always made it to the pins.
I was very proud of our grandson because at no point did he ask to use the guards on the alleys. Instead, he took instruction from his grandfather, and one minute he would get a strike and the next he had forgotten what he learned and was in the gutter. But he kept trying.
As our grandson continued to heed the council of his grandfather and continued to attempt to keep the ball on that straight and narrow lane, he gradually became a stronger bowler and ultimately had a lot more fun, learning how to keep the ball in the lane and achieve his goal which was to obtain the victory. He was pretty proud of the progress that he had made in that one short afternoon, and so were we.
The life of a Christian is a lot like learning to bowl. When we start out, God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness are all that we need for our life to gain momentum and to begin our journey down that straight and narrow lane (‘Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.’ Deuteronomy 9:29 , very much the same way our arm’s forward motion propels the bowling ball down that straight and narrow lane (But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14).
But our ball isn’t with out direction, because very much the way that the little arrows on the floor of the alley assist us in knowing where to place our feet when we bowl, we have God’s word to light our path. (Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105).
And, as our ball begins to pick up steam and head down the path it was created for, so too are we headed down that path that we were created to walk (or roll in this case ; ). (in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6)
When we begin to drift off course and toward the gutter, God puts up the bumpers (the Holy Spirit and mentors in the church/body of Christ) to keep us from sliding right back into the gutter that He just rescued us from. (For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14).
Then our lives, just like the ball, begins to lose momentum. The inertia of the ball keeps it moving toward the goal and we must also strain forward toward the goal. (Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14)
Perhaps the most important similarity is yielding to the voice of the instructor.
As our grandson, yielded his will and plans to that of my husband and listened to his instruction, he began to bowl better and his ball stayed away from the gutter and pressed on to victory. So it is with our lives, if we will yield our will and plans to that of the Father and listen to His instruction, we too will stay away from the gutter and press on to victory, in Jesus. (But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57).
I pray that today God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness are our momentum and that we would use the little arrows of God’s word to direct and illuminate our paths. I pray that we would continue down the narrow path of life, and as we drift toward the gutters we would heed the Holy Spirits leading and the council of our brothers and sisters in Christ and glide smoothly back on course. If and when we begin to lose momentum I pray that we would press on toward the goal. And most importantly, I pray that we would yield our will and plans to that of the Father and that we would seek His plans and His instruction and roll smoothly on to victory, in Jesus, for great is our reward! (in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8). We praise you LORD!
If you do not know the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God and if you are constantly trying to pull yourself back up out of the gutter (like I once was), I pray that you would go to our life preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. Once you have prayed that prayer, please reach out to me at admin@forgiven-n-loved.com, so that I can be in prayer for you.
Luv Ya!
