Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise. (Ephesians 5:15)

Watch Your Step

Caution signs abound warning of potential dangers and serve to keep everyone protected from disabling harm or death. Medicine bottles warn of possible effects of the drug that can be harmful to patients. Traffic signs inform the driver of changes in driving patterns, roads and dangers.  When steps are involved signs warn to be careful going up or down the incline. There are spiritual applications to watching our steps in life when we read the admonition of Paul. Life is filled with decisions that can profitable or they can bring heartache. There is a need to walk circumspectly or to be vigilant in knowing how to walk in life so that fewer occasions of harm will come upon us. Paul points out that fools go through life without any direction or plans. They have no serious mind to watch how they walk or where they step. Their lives are carefree and careless falling into the easy temptations of sin. The simple minded person is not concerned with where they go or what they do. One of the strong temptations of sin is the lack of planning or careful examination of life. Freedom is the toxic lie that fuels the soul to cast aside warnings and plunge headlong into the freedoms of carnal satisfaction. This would be like ignoring a sign of sharks in the water and enjoying the cool of the ocean for a time until the shark attacks. The world is full of the temptations of the flesh and will only bring heartache and misery yet so many people swim with the sharks as if they do not exist. There will always be a consequence to sin and when that happens there is great sorrow. Those who remain in the ocean of sin will soon be killed by the vicious attacks of Satan who seeks to destroy them.

Wise men walk with wisdom. There is a light that guides the footsteps of the man of God seeking the eternal paths of righteousness. Walking with wisdom or circumspectly is considering what each step in life represents and where those steps will take the individual. Heavenly wisdom is the guide of the heart, soul and mind. When a man looks where he is walking the likelihood of falling into a hole or tripping over an object is lessened. A Christian is a person who is very aware of how they walk so they can go around the impediments of temptation, dangers of sin and wiles of the devil. This knowledge comes from the word of God. Abiding in the knowledge of the Lord will guide the steps of the heart to refrain from the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. Rejecting the word of God makes a man a fool. Everything he needs to know about life is found in the Bible and without the message of the Creator in the heart of the individual the steps will be unmeasured. Walking according to truth, walking in love and walking in the light is the way of the Christian. Their steps are ordered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus walked for over thirty years in the word of the Lord and while tempted in all points as all men did not transgress the will of His Father. He walked in the footsteps of the Father and never stepped out of line. The closer a man walks to the footprints of Jesus the closer he will walk with God. This takes careful examination and attention to detail. Walking circumspectly can be done when the heart is tuned to the voice of God and looking for the path the Son of God walked. It is impossible for man to walk in the steps of Jesus as perfectly as He did but the more the decisions of life are measured by the location of the footprints of Jesus the closer to the Father the soul will become. It is foolish to walk alone. Man trying to walk in his own footsteps or the footsteps of other men is an exercise in foolishness. The problem lies in the inability of man to know how to direct his own steps. History is replete with the wisdom of man and the paths he has taken to failure. Only in the word of God and only in the steps of the Divine can one find true happiness and peace. Wisdom comes from the Lord submitting to His word to guide the heart. Warning signs abound that tell the soul to watch their steps and should be heeded. The warnings are serious and can have deadly consequence. Walking in the steps of Jesus will give courage in this life and lead to the throne of God. Watch your step. It really matters where you put your next step.