“…and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”

Not familiar language is it, this verse? Think of being crippled in your feet and/or legs and having to walk on uneven ground or follow a crooked path—two incompatible ideas. Of the two things that present a problem, the writer is suggesting that straightening crooked paths is easier than healing lameness. Think of John the Baptist, who came to straighten out the paths for the Hebrew people. Leveling the hills and filling the valleys along with making the roads straight are ways to create an easier access to God.

Don’t make things harder than they are, might be the message here. Follow your faith, do the right thing, seek God’s way. As far as we are concerned, we should come for healing, not for making things worse. Drooping hands and weak knees will have trouble with crooked, uneven paths. Think about the old Nat King Cole song, “You better straighten up and fly right.” Get your act together, brother and sister. Pull yourself together and search for the flat ground.

Task for Today: There are a lot of ways to complicate the Christian walk. Most of them are self-imposed. Today, remove stumbling blocks, take on the whole protective armor of God. Take His hand and walk with Him. The road is easy, and the load to bear is light. The way may be narrow, but it is straight. It has been made smooth not only by the teachings of John but also by the blood of Jesus.