Old Roads

Dec. 9

Jeremiah 6:16

Old Roads

“Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the crossroads, and look, ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

When we “lose our way” so to speak… when we wake up and realize we have wandered far from the Lord and from where we are supposed to be… the Lord calls us out to the crossroads. These are the moments in life we find ourselves in when we are faced with a decision… when two paths lie before us. It is a place where eventual movement is required, right? We have left the place we are staying and walked out into the streets… into the crosswalk. This is the Lord calling us home… calling us to the place where we will “find rest for our souls”.

It starts by getting up out of our seats and coming to the crossroads int he first place. We have to practice moving with this first micro-movement which is getting up and out and then “standing by the road”. Once there, we do not hastily move… in fact we simply “stand and look”. For some of us today, this will be the first step - a simple walking outside of wherever you are and taking a moment to simply stand, look, and listen. This is solitude. This is time spent in solitude with the Lord. You may be tempted to frantically move about, or start running down one of the roads… but you need to fight against that and just “stand and look” and listen.

Then we must begin to “ask”. We ask the the Lord, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the other people around us to show us the “ancient paths”… the “old ways”. You see - we need to be taught the “old ways”. We need to be shown where they are. We need to make our way towards them. The Lord guide us because he is the one who created the path itself. Others tell us and show us because they have walked upon them. We will never find “rest for our souls” if we do not ask and then listen to the answers. Cry out to the Lord today that he would show you the “ancient paths” the old ways… the “good ways”.

It may surprise that “rest for our souls” is found on the ancient path. You mean the new fangled technology and resources of this world don’t have rest to give to my soul? “There is nothing new under the sun”. (cf. Ecc. 1:9) The well worn paths of the ancient ways are the only paths that lead to the rest for our souls that comes from the Lord. Reading God’s word. Prayer. Gathering to share a meal and worship the Lord. Singing to the Lord. Giving generously to others. Forgiving others. Working hard and giving your all. Telling the truth. Caring for the least of these… and so much more. These are the “old ways”, the ancient paths the Lord calls us to walk in. They are simple, but not easy. They are not “new”. They are not “original”. Be careful for those people who are too enamored with developing something “original”. As my friend Jeff reminds me often, “man has nothing original, only what is entrusted to him by God.” (paraphrase)

The final step is to “walk in it”. You actually need to walk in the “old ways”. We are not called to forever “stand and look”. Sooner or later we need to respond… to “walk”. It is interesting that “rest for our sounds” is found in walking right? There is something mysterious about the true work of the Lord. It requires expending energy and yet it is restful. It calls for effort, and yet it is a “yoke that is easy and a burden that is light”. (cf. Matt 11:29,30) We might be duped into thinking “standing around and looking” is most restful for our souls… this is simply not true. The rest for our souls that comes from the Lord is given along the ancient path… the “good way”… while we “walk in it”. It is counter intuitive, but the weary soul needs to take a walk to find rest… but they must be walking on the right path!

What path are you walking? Have you been looking for a modern “short cut” vs. walking with a long obedience in the same direction on the ancient path of the Lord? Is your soul tired? Tired of scrambling? Tired of trying to keep up? Maybe your soul is actually tired because you have been standing around and looking for too long and it is time to move. What are the tried and true ways of life that God calls us to walk in? Why do we reject these and try to forge our own “new pathways”? ‘Stand by the crossroads, and look, ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” Love you guys. - JDP