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A few years ago, my wife, daughter and I visited Beijing, China. We spent two days sightseeing. We hired a guide to show us Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City on the first day. The square was empty, but crowds filled parts of the Forbidden City. Our guide just told us to follow her pink umbrella, which we did. After touring the site, she led us away from the crowds to a restaurant near a residential area. We had a splendid meal of dumplings, lotus and sweet and sour chicken. We would never have found the restaurant, or ordered lunch successfully, without her help. The second day, we drove to the Great Wall. During both days, our guide provided lots of information about each stop on the tour. She also guided us on the best path from place to place.

The Lord, as our shepherd, also guides us through life. Psalm 23:3 says, “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (NIV) God doesn’t just guide us from place to place, like a tour guide. He shows us the correct path in life. God guides us through the moral and ethical choices we face. His way is the right way. In China, my wife, daughter and I followed a pink umbrella to find our way. In life, we all should follow God’s word. He leads in the paths of righteousness.

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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

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You know, when you start down the wrong path, it can be a problem. I remember as a Boy Scout, we were canoeing deep in the wilderness along the Minnesota and Canadian border. Our guide steered us to a faint trail on the shore of the lake. We landed and hoisted the canoes and supplies on our backs to carry them to the next lake on our planned route. However, it was the wrong path! The guide had read the map wrong!  We ended up hauling everything much further to a little puddle of a lake. After puzzling over the map a bit, we decided not to haul everything back. We crossed the small lake and portaged over to a different branch of the lake we planned to visit. It was a lot of work and the trail between the lakes was soft and muddy. But we finally got back on track.

The third verse of the 23^rd Psalm says God leads us in the paths of righteousness. Maybe you haven’t thought about this before. But one way God cares for us is guiding our path. He won’t steer us wrong, unlike our Boy Scout guide!

This passage is not really about helping us make decisions. It is more about how to live an ethical life. God points us to the path of righteousness, where we won’t fall away from him. Follow his lead!

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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.