![]() ![]() The path of the righteous (verse 31) entails patience and waiting on the future glory of Christ to be revealed, but also the promise of strength to meet out trials and temptations here and now, and to do righteous acts to honor the Lord who bought us. They have the privilege of building treasure in heaven that will last forever. Those in Christ have the privilege of calling upon God as Father. There is the path of walking with Christ or walking away from him. The alternative is to utterly fall in due time. There is more, but His point is plain come to me and follow me if you would live. Not free to indulge lustful or murderous hearts not free to hate enemies not free to do religious acts for our own vain purposes not free to value riches above God, or to worry over more about our day to day existence over serving Christ. So he teaches that in following him we are not free to indulge our sinful nature any more. He uses the law to teach our bondage (He says you are all guilty law breakers), and that freedom in him means not only freedom from guilt (by his death), but also freedom to die to our sinful nature. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses the law to teach us the necessity of salvation, and of dying to ourselves. ![]() Death abounds around us, yet we tend to believe all is well apart from the Lord. The Lord here warns us of our propensity to think we live, move, and have our being apart from him. Young men especially are full of hubris foolishly overconfident. “Youths” alludes to men in their prime, at the height of their strength and fitness. Verse 30 reads, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall utterly fall.” ![]() They point us both to our natural weakness and, conversely, the sufficiency of the Lord to supply his people with the strength they need to walk in faith, while they wait on his Day. The words here are for those who know Christ or who would like to know him. It also teaches us that we can only truly know God through Christ. The Bible teaches us that life that is truly life is knowing God (John 17). The fundamental question for men is “How shall I live?” It isn’t simply a matter of existence, but the essence of life. ![]()
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