Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

This is a well-known verse, but I don’t recall noticing before that the Japanese says “straight” where the English says “right.” Just as there are optical illusions, so there are ethical and moral illusions. That’s why it’s so important that we have the Bible. Both our eyes and our ears can be fooled, as everyone has experienced, but God’s Word stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) At times we miss-hear the Holy Spirit, and the devil actively tries to make us think that his suggestions are from the Holy Spirit. That’s why gaining familiarity with the Word is so valuable: we learn what God’s voice really sounds like. That’s precisely why the devil works so hard to discredit the Bible, and the very idea that absolute truth could exist. It is tragic how many people have swallowed that last lie and been cut off from all moral and ethical mooring. It has been pointed out that a moral and ethical atheist is a contradiction in terms, because without a Creator there is no foundation for “right” and “wrong” in anything. If we throw out the Bible, we’ve not just taken the rug from under our feet, we’ve taken the whole floor, dirt, and everything else!

I remember one time in my youth when my father made an emergency trip to confront a seminary student, I think it was, who had decided to live with a prostitute “to win her to Christ.” He probably tried to use Hosea for justification, but he hadn’t gone through the “niceties” of marriage. For that matter, I’ve justified behavior in myself that I can now look back and see was clearly deviating from God. Our emotions are unreliable, and coupled with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” (1 John 2:16) they can totally cloud our judgment. I’ve got to build up a “bank balance” of the Word of God, to serve as a cushion, anchor and shield against all the devil and the world throw at me. (Psalm 119:11) It is the only reliable “plumb line” (Amos 7) to let me know whether my way really is straight.

Father, I tend to think that other people might be deceived, but not me. Help me walk in the humility that is only logical, when I consider myself in the light of Your infinite attributes. May I recognize Your way and follow it, not trying to decide anything apart from You, so that Your will may be done in every detail in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!