One can imagine the wicked person barreling down such a path, legs scratched through their hole-torn pants, snagged by the thorns and snares that should hold them back but are disregarded because of the foolishness that drives them on.  Folly’s house is their destination and the stench of death is the mesmerizing aroma that they cannot resist.  This terrible place is where their soul is captured and begins to rot in the blinding darkness of worldly desire.

The righteous person is one who values his soul like a treasure and is repelled by such a path.  Even if they naively wander down this path they quickly turn away at the first prick of the thorns.  Wisdom’s house is their destination and the waft of a blessed life is the captivating aroma that invites them in.  This wonderful place is where their soul is free to thrive.

So, where is Jesus?  Because He is the Righteous One, He saved our souls not by avoiding the path of the wicked but by paying its price and redeeming those at its end!  Its thorns were placed on His head as a crown, and its snares lashed out at His body and tore His innocent flesh.  He cleared the path by taking the sins of the world on His own shoulders, carrying the punishment of death to the place of destruction, and crucifying it with His own body.

Jesus gave us a new path.  It broke the old paths of fear and shame by giving us Himself.  “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (John 14:6).  This path is straight, narrow, and direct to the eternal inheritance that is free to all who confess Him.

-Betsy