Where is your path heading? (Part 2 of 2)

You can see Part 1 of this blog here:  Where is your path heading? (Part 1)

We looked at the path of the blessed man, so what does the path of the wicked look like?

Psalm 1:4-5 - "The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."

This verse basically starts out telling us that all the things we just read about the blessed man are not true of the wicked man.  It's basically translated as a big "No No" or as Lee Corso might say, "Not so fast my friend."  They take the advice of the wicket, stand in the path of sinners, and even sit with mockers.  They do not delight in God's instruction and law, but rather spend time thinking up and creating their own.  They don't spend time in God's Word, but rather fill their minds with worldly thoughts.

The Psalmist compares the wicked to chaff, which to fully understand we must see just how useless chaff is.  Chaff is the small wispy substance in the head of a stalk of wheat.  It's the smallest and most useless part of the plant.  Now just to add to the context of that, what did the Psalmist just compare the blessed man to?  A strong, flourishing tree.  Yet the wicked wasn't even considered to be a leaf, a branch, a bush, or even a stalk.  But the unsubstantial piece of chaff.  There truly is no comparing the blessed and the wicked.

Then it goes to say that wicked will not stand in judgment.  Now when I read that, it almost upset me.  I mean as Christians, isn't the judgment when all things are made fair and our enemies and the evil people of the world receive what they've got coming.  But look closely, it doesn't say they will not be present, rather that they will not stand.  When the Lord returns, all will knell to him.  2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each once may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

So where does each path lead?  Psalm 1:6 reads, "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."  Some translations say that the Lord "watches over" the way of the righteous.  Sometimes we may feel like what we're doing is going unnoticed, but God sees what we do, He hears us pray, and He notices our actions.  How much more blessed can we get than to have God watching over our path?

But for the wicked, their path leads them to ruin.  To some extent, we are all wicked; we've all sinned, all taken the advice of the wicked, stood in the path of sinners, and even sat with mockers.  But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus, who never sinned, paid the price for our sin.  He forgives us giving us the ultimate blessing. 

But the righteous aren't right because of their giving, church attendance, successful kids, or some other worldly measuring stick.  We are righteous because we have been saved by faith in Christ Jesus.  Our actions and behavior reflect our salvation.  They don't contribute to it.

If the Psalmist were looking at your spiritual body right now, what would he compare you to?  Would you be the worthless, useless chaff?  Or would you be the strong, fruitful tree planted by the water?  If you can't say that you'd be the tree growing strong by the waters, what changes might you need to make in your life to get there?