In his sermon 'The Path You Are Taking,' Scott Brown urges listeners to consider the direction of their lives by reflecting on the metaphor of 'pondering the path of your feet' as highlighted in Proverbs. Brown draws a parallel between human habits and the repetitive paths of cows, emphasizing that people also create and follow patterns. Key words such as ponder, paths, ways, and establish are examined to illustrate the need for introspection and intentional living. The sermon stresses the significant roles and responsibilities of fathers, as outlined in biblical teachings, highlighting the need for fathers to lead their families according to God's wisdom. Brown poses several questions derived from Proverbs to provoke thought on whether one is on a path aligned with God or straying towards sin. The sermon underscores the duality of paths—those leading to life and those leading to destruction—and emphasizes the importance of choosing wisely, supported by scriptural references.

To Proverbs 4, 26, and 7. The focus of this message is to call all of us to ponder the path of our feet. And I want you to look at your feet. Where are your feet going? It's very important that you understand that.

Now maybe you notice the cows in the pastures that are surrounding this place. Have you seen the cows? You've seen the cows. By the way, my wife Deborah milks six cows every morning. And she knows cows.

The cows are actually very sweet friends. They love her, and she loves them. But cows are creatures of habit, and they get into a groove. Cows do the same thing every day. If you walk through these pastures, you'll notice two things.

You'll have to watch your step on the one hand, But actually cows walk in a consistent line. If you walk through these pastures, you'll see these well-worn paths. They walk those paths every single day. Similarly, deer and other animals do that as well. But they walk the same trail day after day.

But they don't just follow paths. They make paths. In that sense, you and I are just like cows. We not only follow paths, we make them. And I want to ask all of us tonight, what paths are you taking?

What paths are you taking? This word paths is a prominent word in the book of Proverbs. It appears over and over. In fact, I decided to give this message one morning a few days ago when I was just reading through the Proverbs and I kept seeing this word path and ways and I looked up those words and they were path and ways are synonymous terms and they're used to describe the way that we are working our way through life. So the verse that we're dealing with is, ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established.

Do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil. Now, at the beginning of this, I want to focus on four words in these two verses. Ponder, path, ways, and establish. And those are very important words, ponder.

This is an appeal to think about your life. I want you to think about your life. I want you to think about where your life is going. Stop and take stock. Take a look at your life.

Weigh your life. God did weigh a man's life in the Old Testament. His name was Belshazzar. God weighed him in the balances and he was found wanting. And you should weigh your life.

Have you weighed your life? And if you're weighing your life, are you found wanting? You know, I think it's very important that we ponder. Ponder our life. This is a great time at a camp out like this to ponder your life.

And you'll get a chance to talk father and son about both of your lives to give it some consideration. The second word is path. And the word indicates a pattern, a trench really, a track, like a cow that walks in the same way every day. And are creatures of habit. You know, we are creatures of habit.

I have a friend of mine who has run the police force in downtown Raleigh for years and he told me this one day. He said the police always know where you are. They know where you go every day because you always follow the same path every day. They can find you and of course with today's electronic technology they can find you a lot easier than ever. But we go to the same places.

You know there was a, you know back in the days when they first built the Alaska Highway. It was a dirt road. And they say there was a sign at the beginning of the Alaska Highway that said, choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for a long time. And That has to do with your path.

Choose your route carefully because you'll be in it a long time. It's really hard to break the pattern of your paths, but you can do it with the Lord's help. The word ways, That has to do with the direction. That speaks of what you do on your journey, while you are on your pathway, how you travel the distance, what you're going toward, and the moral character of your direction. That's what he is speaking of when he uses the word ways and the idea is really the concept of marching and it's used in different ways in the Bible like aiming at a target and things like that.

Even that famous proverb, Proverbs 30, 19, the way of a man with a maid. There's a way that you are with women. There's a way that you are with money. There's a way that you are with money. There is a way that you are with everything.

And that's what he's talking about. And then the fourth word is established. And there he's talking about making your ways firm. It has to do with being prepared and ready and secure. It's a picture of a person who's prepared.

So he's really talking about make your way through life so that you're prepared for life. And do the things in your youth so that you're prepared for the things of your old age. And so all of these things really have to do with fathers and sons. And I just want to appeal to all of us fathers and sons to ponder the paths of our feet and to consider our ways. You fathers, I want to address you directly.

God gives fathers tremendous authority, tremendous freedom, and tremendous responsibility, and tremendous duty, and also tremendous liability in their work as fathers. Now here's a question I want you to consider as fathers. You know you're seeing the remarkable things going on in our culture, the scary things that are going on in our culture. Here's the question I want you to ponder. Will you be disciplined for your poor stewardship of your freedom as a father?

How have you used your tremendous authority? How have you used your tremendous freedom? You have tremendous authority and freedom. You are the head of the house. God gives fathers authority over their households.

And God actually holds fathers accountable for how they handle their wife, how they handle their children, and everything else in their life. He's given you tremendous authority and tremendous responsibility. He's also given you tremendous duty. The duties are defined in the Word of God. Many of them actually are defined here in the Book of Proverbs.

You'll find many instructions, both to fathers and to sons, even though the book of Proverbs is a child training book of fathers for their sons. It was written for fathers in order to teach their sons. But there is a tremendous responsibility that fathers have to teach the things that are in the book of Proverbs. And in the Bible your efforts are clearly defined. God tells you exactly what it means to be a father and what to do.

In Deuteronomy chapter 6 he makes it very clear that you should teach your children when you sit in the house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. In Ephesians chapter 6, 1-4, he makes it very clear that you have an obligation before God to bring your children up in the training and the admonition of the Lord, and that you do not exasperate your children, that you don't unnecessarily make them angry because of your behavior. And the Bible makes it very clear that all of this is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's really the implicit thrust of the text in Ephesians chapter 6 that all of this is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. The family life codes begins with be filled with the Holy Spirit.

They all fall apart really without the filling of the Holy Spirit. And so the question is, how have you used your freedom thus far? How have you used your authority thus far? How have you exercised your duty thus far in disciplining your children in the Word of God. And I want you as fathers to seriously consider and reconsider the path of your feet.

It's very serious what a father does with his life and what he does with his time, and particularly what he does with his children and what he does with his family life. There is tremendous liability. Will you be disciplined for your poor stewardship of your freedom or will your children suffer because you you were you were poor at your stewardship of the freedom and the authority that God has given you. Will your children suffer because you did not teach them? Will they experience things that you did not prepare them for in the Word of God?

And by the way, It's the Word of God that prepares for them for everything. Fill them up with the knowledge of His will. Give them the whole counsel of God while they are in your house. They will leave your house more quickly than you can imagine. You don't have enough time, brother.

You don't. So, power up and pour it out. And don't misuse your time as a father. There's tremendous liability. And I just want to, just as sternly as I can, to encourage us to consider the responsibility that God has given us.

You know, for many years I've been speaking to the various jurisdictional matters of church and family life. These are very critical matters. The church and the family are the most important institutions that God has established in the world. And here's what I want to say about that. When you relinquish your jurisdictional authority and your jurisdictional freedom and your responsibility and your duty, you and your children and the generations to follow will absolutely suffer the consequences.

And they will either be consequences for good or they will be consequences for evil or weakness and failure in the midst of the challenges that are ahead. My view is that there are tremendous challenges ahead for us. Fathers, now is the time. Don't think that you have time. Don't pat yourself on the back of what you've done in the past.

Forget the past. Forget what is gone before and set your mind on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and give your whole heart and soul. Maybe your Maybe your sons are a little bit older now and you've kind of backed off. Don't back off. Maybe you've got lots of children and you've been backing off.

Don't back off. You have these children only for a short period of time. Fatherhood carries with it grave consequences if you have been misguided as a father. And sonship also carries with it grave consequences if you have misguided your life as a son. So These are very, very important things that we're speaking about here.

Now, we're talking about the path that you're on. We're talking about creatures of habit. We're talking about what it's like to be a cow in many ways. And I just want to say that the path that you're on now is the path that is taking you in the direction of your life. So where you are right now is where you're going.

Who you are right now is who you're becoming. And as you've weighed your life in the balances and you think there are flaws, then now is the time to take a good look at those things. Now I want to ask a number of questions that come out of Proverbs. All of these questions arise out of the various places where the use of the word path or ways appears in the book. And I'm just going to ask questions of these particular Proverbs.

I'm going to ask a question, and I'm going to read the Proverb so that you can understand. And I want you to ask these questions very seriously. Proverbs 1.15, are you walking in the path of sinners? Are you walking in the path of sinners? Proverbs 1.15 says, my son, do not walk in the way with them.

Keep your foot from their path, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Are your closest companions wicked men or godly men? And are you taking your sons to be with godly men, or maybe even lukewarm men or immature men. Be very careful who you take your sons to be with and allow them to be with. Number two, second question, Proverbs 1.19.

Are you walking in the path of the greedy? Are you walking in the path of the greedy? Is all that you think about is money. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

So are the ways, and that word is paths, so are the paths of everyone who is greedy for gain where all you really think about is money and your security financially third question Proverbs 131 are you eating the bitter fruit of your ways from your path Are you eating the bitter fruit of your ways from your path? Are you eating the bitter fruit of your ways from your path? Proverbs 131 but whoever Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way. You always eat the fruit of the path that you're on. You will be made to eat it And be filled to the full with their own fancies for the turning away of the simple will slay them and the Complacency of fools will destroy them, but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil.

Are you eating the bitter fruit of your ways on the path? Question number four, Proverbs 2-8. Are you experiencing the protections of a holy path? Are you experiencing the protections of a holy path Proverbs 2 8 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright he is a shield to those who walk uprightly he guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity and every good path notice the language here you those who walk those whose paths are guarded, those whose ways are preserved, those who are on every good path. Brothers, get off of every bad path and get on every good path.

Number five, Proverbs 2, verses 1 through 4, is your path drawn by the word of God? Another way to say it is, is your path charted by the Word of God? Is the GPS system that guides your feet the Word of God or is it something else? My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity and every good path.

Every good path. When your life is guided by the Word of God, you understand every good path. The best paths are drawn, charted by the Word of God and by the Word of God alone. The best thing you can ever do with your life is live your life by the Word of God. It's the sweetest thing.

It's the most empowering thing. It's the most secure thing a man can ever do. The sixth question, Proverbs 2, 18 and 19. Are you on any paths to death? Are you on any paths to death?

This is about the immoral woman. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead. Notice plural, paths. There are multiple paths to immorality, and that means there's multiple paths to the dead for a man. None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life.

Nor do they regain the paths of life Nor do they regain the paths of life in other words you lose something that you never get back never So you may walk in the way of goodness and keep to the paths of righteousness." In those two verses 18 through 19, you find this word, path and walk and way, over and over again. Seventh question, are you on the path of silliness? Are you on the path of silliness? Proverbs 15, 21, folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment. We live in a silly age, by the way.

We live in an age where men don't mind just looking at, thinking about, and doing one silly irrelevant thing after another. Are you becoming a silly man because you're involved yourself with silly things, silly video clips, silly movies, silly events, things that don't really mean anything? He's saying here that you're destitute of discernment if you're that way. Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment. Maybe you just think there's so much joy in foolishness and silliness.

Let me tell you something, here's what it tells about you. You are destitute of discernment. He goes on, but a man of understanding walks uprightly. In Proverbs 9-6 There's this appeal to run away from folly, stupid folly. He says, forsake foolishness and live and go in the way of understanding.

Go in the way of understanding. You know, the devil wants to make you an irrelevant, silly, jolly man who laughs at everything and has no discernment at all. Eighth question, are your paths defined by trusting in the Lord? Are your paths defined by trusting in the Lord? Are your paths defined by trusting in the Lord?

Proverbs 3 5 through 8. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. This is one of the most important and helpful texts in all the Proverbs. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Number nine, are your paths man's paths or God's paths? Proverbs 16, 25.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Number 10, Proverbs 3 17 and 18. Proverbs 3 17 and 18. Are you on the pleasant paths? Speaking of wisdom, speaking of Jesus Christ, her ways are pleasantness, ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to all those who take hold of her and Happy are all those who retain her. Question number 11, Proverbs 5, 3-6, are you on the path of the pornographic woman? Are you on the path of the pornographic woman? Verse 3 in Proverbs 5, For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell, lest you ponder the path of her life. Her ways are unstable. You do not know them. Question number 12. Are you leading your sons in the right paths?

This is for fathers. Proverbs 4, verses 10 through 19. Proverbs 4 is a fascinating section of Proverbs because What you find there is what David taught his son. Solomon testifies to what his father taught him. It's really very beautiful.

Fathers should study this and teach their sons the exact same things. Go teach your son the list that David taught Solomon in Proverbs chapter 4. Solomon says, Hear my son and receive my sayings and the years of life will be many. I have taught you in the ways of wisdom I have led you in right paths. The path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble. So what path are you on? Consider your path. Consider your ways.

Weigh yourself in a sense spiritually. Ponder the path of your feet. Here's one last thing I want us all to understand with perfect clarity. God is pondering your path. Proverbs 521, for the Ways or the paths of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and he ponders all his paths.

Proverbs 15 says, The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. And the question is, the Lord is watching you. The Lord knows your paths. The Lord knows that path just like the cow paths in this pasture behind you here. And where are you walking?

What are you looking at? What are you listening to? Where you're going? What are you thinking? Weigh yourself.

The Lord Jesus Christ told us that there are only two paths, And you find that in the book of Proverbs, by the way, too. You can find really prophecies of Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 through 15, where Jesus said, enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it. So ponder the path of your feet. While you're here, think about the cows and think about your own feet and where they're going.

Think about the groove that you're setting and don't forget, choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for a long time. But the glory of God is that you can jump out of a bad rut. You can jump out of a bad rut in a second and start walking in the right way. Would you pray with me?

Father, I thank you for the penetrating wisdom of Proverbs, how it speaks to us about the very practical things of our life. It is such street-level wisdom, and we thank you for it. I pray now that you'd bless these fathers and sons as they speak together, that you would help them, that you would bless them in the paths of their feet, that their paths would be paths of peace, paths of righteousness, paths of victory. Amen.