BIAY - Proverbs 9:6 - Ways
In the NET translation of the Bible, Proverbs 9:6 reads:
“Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live,
and proceed in the way of understanding.”Proverbs 9:6 (NET)
Other translations say “immature” or “simple” but I prefer the sense of “foolish” because it implies much more of a choice than the others. The others feel more like paths that one will (generally) naturally grow out of but foolish is much more about the choices we make day to day - the choices of whether to follow God’s ways of love, justice, compassion, grace, joy, hope, truth, and peace - or whether to follow other paths.
Yesterday, I faced a choice. I was walking Scout and most of the path was clear of the ice and snow that fell a few weeks ago. But as I came to the back half of the path, I was confronted with a path that was complete ice. I had a choice - I could skid my way along the ice and risk falling and getting hurt or I could choose a different way. I could go back the way I came or I could walk on the side where the ice had started melt but the terrain was not nearly as flat. I chose the latter and made it around the loop. The foolish way would have been to simply skid along the ice for what ended up being about ½ mile of ice. I’m grateful I chose another way.