Rest for the Soul.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jeremiah 6:16, New International Version

A Hummingbird cannot sit still for long. Its metabolism requires an almost constant quest for food. This little guy seems to be looking for direction. I don’t know if he was at a crossroads. I know that most days we are at a crossroads, whether we realize it or not. We have a continual banquet of choices to make: things we can do; things we can say; things that can occupy our thoughts.

Jeremiah’s phrase ‘the ancient paths’ has always captured my imagination. He uses it in chapter 18 (I’ll let you find the exact verse). I am reminded of the paths of Eden, where the Lord walked with Adam and Eve before the Fall. He walked those paths immediately after the Fall as well, but Adam and Eve were hiding.

We are invited by our God to walk the ancient paths — to walk the Way in the company of the one who is the Way, and the Truth and the Life. The promise of Jeremiah is that you will find rest for your souls. That is the nature of the ancient paths. That is the character of the Way. We journey to find rest, rest for the soul.

We do not need to wait for heaven to know such a rest. We remember the often-quoted words of Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” God’s wisdom was to give us a Sabbath — a day of rest to practice Jeremiah’s advice. The everlasting paths of God’s garden are available to us in Jesus. The one who was mistaken on Easter for a gardener has prepared straight paths for us. They lead straight to the Father’s heart. They are paths of compassion, hope, peace, joy, and rest.

Where are your feet taking you today? There is an ancient way that beckons.

Text and picture copyright Don Schatz