Where are you headed?

Bible Reading

Invite Sam Quinn up to join up to pray after Bible reading. They leave on Jan 15th and head to Northern Ireland.

Mention the Blooms home on furlough.

Last week we asked whether people can really change.

We learned that by God’s grace, change is possible.

And that matters today.

Today we will look in Proverbs and see that “the direction of daily steps determine our destination not our intentions at New Years”

Then we will start the Song of Songs.

Songs: 1,005

Proverbs: 3,000

That count comes straight from 1 Kings 4:32

Today we will look at 3 Proverbs

Verse 25: a proverb about where you set your eyes

Verse 26: a proverb about watching your path

Verse 27: a proverb about refusing drift

BIBLE READING

Proverbs 4:25–27

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Statement

Option 1: Who we are next year will be shaped by our steps, not our intentions.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

Sermon Introduction

What is it about a new year that is so exciting?

Time with family

Time from work

College football

Another chance.

You didn’t have to wait until New Years to get one but today is a new day and the Bible tells us .

Lamentations 3:22–23 “22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

Four years ago this altar moved to the parking lot of the church to the parking lot at the Collection. I was faced with this question,

If my life keeps moving in the same direction it’s moving right now, am I okay with where it will land?

And here’s the part that mattered most. I already knew the answer before I asked the question.

There have been seasons when I assumed growth was happening simply because I was busy with good things.

But busyness is not direction.

And activity is not alignment.

I had to admit.

I have wanted deeper faith without changing how I spend my time.

I have wanted peace while continuing habits that keep me restless.

Their are things that if I continue to ignore will get to a place I can not longer ignore them

Simply “if nothing changes, nothing changes” isn’t even my greatest fear.

Nothing was obviously wrong, but something was off. My intentions were sincere, but my steps were careless. And over time, those steps were shaping me more than my prayers about change.

What God patiently showed me is this. Good intentions did not rescue me. Changing direction did.

Most of us want a better future. We want stronger faith, healthier families, and deeper joy.

But wanting a destination does not put us on the right road. Many of us keep walking familiar paths and expect different outcomes.

Nobody plans to drift from God.

Nobody wakes up intending to become spiritually dull or relationally distant.

We simply stay on roads that quietly take us there.

Satan cannot steal salvation, but he is very interested in sabotaging usefulness and joy.

Say to you all what Jesus says to Peter

Luke 22:31–32 “31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

The path you choose begins with where you fix your eyes.

Proverbs 4:25 (KJV)

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

A. God teaches that focus determines direction.

Why are we talking about eyes, I thought we were talking about walking down a path?

What you give your attention to steadily shapes your desires.

What you desire begins to influence the decisions you make.

Long before your feet move, your eyes have already chosen a direction.

B. God warns that divided focus produces instability.

Wandering eyes lead to wandering hearts.

Let our eyes drift rarely feels dangerous in the moment.

Looking at what others have slowly drifts your heart from gratitude to coveting will make you a slave to debt.

Looking at pornography slowly drifts your heart from love to consumption will destroy your family.

Looking at bitterness and old wounds slowly drifts your heart from forgiveness to resentment and will poison your joy.

Looking at your phone instead of the people God put in front of you slowly drifts your heart from presence to neglect and will hollow out your relationships.

Looking at approval and applause slowly drifts your heart from faithfulness to performance and will leave you anxious and empty.

The simple pattern Scripture keeps pressing:

What captures my eyes captures my heart.

What captures my heart eventually directs my life.

C. God presents focused attention as an act of obedience.

Looking straight is commanded, not suggested.

Focus is a spiritual issue before it is a productivity issue.

Obedience begins with what you choose to look at consistently.

Some of you set good goals, but they are too small. Stop aiming to improve your life. Aim to glorify God. Build convictions, not checklists.

Transition

Seeing clearly matters, but clarity alone does not change direction. Once we know where we are looking, wisdom calls us to examine where we are going.

2. Plans reveal desire, but paths reveal direction, so ponder the path.

Proverbs 4:26 “26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”

A. Unexamined paths quietly become permanent ones.

To ponder means to slow down and measure carefully.

God asks where this road leads if nothing changes.

Optimism without evaluation leads to self-deception.

B. God teaches that stability comes from alignment, not emotion.

Zeal can inspire change but cannot sustain it.

Written resolutions feels powerful, but daily alignment throuh actions is what is going to tell the story.

When the path is examined, the way becomes stable.

God establishes paths, not wishes.

Galatians 6:7–8 “7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

We get the harvest we sow, not the harvest we wish for.

C. God reveals that patterns expose direction more than promises.

Habits quietly shape outcomes.

Routines speak louder than resolutions.

God brings steadiness to lives that are honest about their direction.

Direction is not revealed in what you promise God, but in what you practice before Him.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

Transition Knowing the truth creates responsibility. Wisdom now calls for action.

3. The path only changes when intentions are expressed through decisive action.

Proverbs 4:27 “27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

A. God teaches that even small turns lead to big consequences.

The image is not dramatic rebellion. It is gradual wandering.

God cares about each of steps, not just where we say we are headed.

Love Life360. When I was a kid. I would tell my mom where I was going and when I got home I could tell her where I went. I know my kids speed, path, and stops along the way.

B. Obedience requires action, not better intentions.

Scripture calls for removing the foot, not managing temptation.

Obedience often requires visible and inconvenient change.

Jesus does not believe temptation should be managed. Matthew 5:29–30 “29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

Jesus does not say, think better about it.

He says, remove it.

C. Resolutions do not change paths. Steps do.

Intentions matter only when they move your feet.

Faith becomes visible through action. / remove thy foot from evil.

Illustration

In the 1700s, there was a pastor named John Newton, best known for writing Amazing Grace.

What fewer people remember is how long it took him to stop walking in a direction he knew was wrong.

Newton believed the gospel. He prayed. He read Scripture.

And then he went right back to captaining slave ships.

Not because he thought it was right. Not because he rejected Christ. But because changing direction was costly.

Years later, Newton admitted that his conscience was uneasy, but not enough to change his course. His intentions were sincere. But his steps were shaping him anyway.

Grace forgave him. But grace did not erase the damage of delay.

The most dangerous part of Newton’s story isn’t what he did. It’s how long he waited to stop.

Newton didn’t lack belief. He lacked decisive steps.

Have you ever heard? “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

D. God calls us to examine whether our habits are sharpening us or making us dull and ineffective.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 “10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.”

A person without wisdom compensates by pushing harder. A wise person stops, sharpens the tool, and works smarter.

Small, repeated steps quietly decide the direction of a life.

Without new habits, good intentions always return you to the same road.

Nobody ruins their life in a moment. They ruin it by staying on the wrong road too long.

Conclusion

I expect you came here today filled with great intentions for the new year. The question is whether those intentions have steps.

What is your intention for Bible reading, and what day will you start?

What is your intention for prayer, and what time will you pray?

What is your intention for leading your family, and what will you do first?

Intentions that never make it onto a calendar quietly disappear.

Who we will be this time next year will be determined by the steps we choose and actually take today.

Next week we will look at this truth from another angle.

Our future is too important to be only a reaction to our past.

We will study what Scripture teaches about bitterness, how it shapes direction, and how God offers a better path forward.

Prayer

Before you leave today, decide one step you will take this week and tell someone before the day ends.

God does not establish intentions. He establishes paths.

So choose your steps carefully, because they are choosing who you will become.