9/9/2025
A Different Path
In the New Testament we have a couple of letters that the Apostle Peter wrote to followers of Jesus. In these letters he encourages them in their walk of faith. In his second letter we find a list of things that will help us in this walk. Here’s what he writes:
…..make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. (2 Peter 1:5-7, NIV)
When we take the time to examine this list, what we see is that Peter is talking about taking a different path. This list contains multiple things that our current culture either ignores or finds irrelevant. But each of these things is beneficial to us and they are critical to our walk with God……even if they put us on a different path than the rest of the world.
In the Old Testament we read something about a man the I’m sure you’ve heard of. His name was Noah. Remember him? He’s the one who built an ark. That’s a different subject for a different article, but here’s what we read about him in Genesis chapter 6:
Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. (Genesis 6:9, NLT)
If you and I are going to stay faithful in a world that’s resistant to the gospel, we must be willing to walk a different path than the surrounding culture. That’s not always easy, especially when things aren’t going the way you want them to go. Maybe you’re tired. Maybe you’re worn out. Maybe you’re frustrated or feel as though you’re going backward instead of forward.
Regardless of where you find yourself, stay on the path. Even when it looks so much easier to abandon all of it and just “go with the flow” of the rest of the world, stay on God’s path. It may seem that you’re not making much progress, but you are. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other because God is taking you somewhere on this path. I love what The Message paraphrase says about Noah. Check it out:
“Noah was different. GOD liked what he saw in Noah” (Genesis 6:8).
As you stay on the path, God likes what He sees in you as well. You don’t have to be flashy. You don’t have to go viral. You don’t even have to feel effective. Keep doing what God calls you to do. Keep adding to your faith the things in Peter’s list. Noah didn’t have Peter’s list, but he added those things anyway and that’s what set him apart. He walked with God, even when the rest of the world walked away.
Your steady, faithful walk matters more than you realize.