Let thine eyes look right on [on your own path], and let thine eyelids look straight before thee [literally, right in front of you]. Ponder the path of thy feet [think about where you are going], and let all thy ways be established [this will strengthen what you are doing]. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left [don’t be looking around while you are walking your path]: remove thy foot from evil [that will protect you from evil].
Proverbs 4:25-27 [added]
Something that is often a difficult lesson to learn, whether by child or adult, is that of keeping our eyes on our own path.
The lesson in these verses is something we are working on in our children’s lives. It is natural enough for them {all of us} to notice when others do wrong. I do not discourage them to gently and only one time tell a friend if they think they are doing wrong. That is friendship and kindness. After that, it is the authority’s responsibility to notice and take care of it {with the exception of violence-that is always to be made known to an authority, immediately}.
But because noticing others’ faults is so very natural, this lesson is necessary to learn. It is for children to learn that they must be responsible for their own path. Us too!
Often, when there is a “sight to behold” of something or other, one or more of my girls will literally walk into a wall in order to keep gawking. Turning around to see another child be scolded, straining the neck to watch some activity that seems strange… all these distractions are too much for them to watch AND know where they are headed! To carefully see something, they must stop. and not continue on their path.
The same is true spiritually. We must all learn to look at our own path. I must teach my children by example to keep my own eyelids straight before me, lest I be straining to see another’s fault and slam into a spiritual brick wall…. it is just as painful spiritually as it is physically! And if I am to take time to notice something in another’s path, I must stop. I must stop my own forward progress to see someone else’s path. This often leads to evil {my judging unrighteously of another}.
So, for today, I am re-focused on keeping my eyes on my own path {which includes my children’s paths :)} and teaching them by example that our first and most important responsibility is our own path {actions}… not someone else’s.
