Fixing Our Eyes to Order Our Steps

“Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity]. Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet, and all your ways will be steadfast and sure. Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk]; Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.” (Proverbs 4:25-27, AMP)

Last month, I was in Arizona for my sister’s wedding. She owns two horses, Paint and Splash. Being the maid of honor, I traveled a few days ahead of the rest of my family,  and got to spend a lot of time with her before her big day.

While I was there, she taught me how to ride a horse; something I haven’t done since I was a pre-teen on a youth group trip. Needless to say, I was as beginner as it gets! I was surprised at how much there was to learn– it’s not just getting up into a saddle and saying, “Giddy up!” Turns out, there is a specific way of sitting in the saddle, holding the reins, and positioning your feet in the stirrups. Then, add in all the commands the horse understands. 

Eventually, she put me on Paint, her “walking horse.” Essentially, what that means is that Paint liked to move at a slightly quicker pace and her gait was very smooth– you wouldn’t feel how fast she was really going until it was a little too quick for your liking. Riding Paint felt gawky at first; she would veer to the right and then to the left. She would take off faster than I commanded. She would go where she felt like it, oftentimes into low tree branches, or off the path into brush.

And when she went faster than I liked, I’d tense up and grab the horn of the saddle, instead of sitting confidently and pulling on the reins. Eventually, I put it together– I was verbally telling her to do certain things, but my body was giving her cues that commanded her differently. That was when my sister gave me this tip: “Look where you want the horse to go. Because her eyes are on the sides of her head, so she can see straight ahead, but she can also see you in the saddle. If you’re looking at the ground in front of her, she can sense that, but if you look ahead to the spot you’re trying to ride, she knows that’s where you’re trying to go.”

And that was some really good advice. Instead of looking at the ground in front of us, nervous about the very next step Paint took, I started looking ahead to where the path was leading us. Suddenly, riding started to get easier, and it’s because Paint knew the direction she should go when my whole body was working together to show her the path.

In Proverbs 4, I find it interesting that Solomon talks about the various parts of the body and how they affect our walk on God’s path of righteousness. But in verses 25 and 26, you will notice that Solomon urges his son to fix his gaze before he orders his steps. 

“Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed be fixed straight in front of you… watch carefully the path of your feet, and your ways will be steadfast and sure.” (v 25-26) We cannot walk this path of righteousness if we are not fixing our gaze on righteousness. We cannot confidently stay the course if we are not being diligent in remaining faithful to the God in which we are drawing ever nearer to. To be frank, if we’re fixing our eyes on garbage, we will easily become distracted. If we engage in media that dishonors the Lord, if we doomscroll all day down a rabbithole, if we consume news article after news article… then where is our hope? What direction will our mind, and ultimately our feet, travel in?

If we fix our eyes on the world, the path of righteousness just got that much harder to find. Our feet will follow in the path our gaze is fixed on, just like Paint the horse will trot down the path her rider leads her down.

But, if we fix our eyes on pursing God, if we steadfastly study His word, draw near Him in prayer, and commit ourselves to cutting off the things that vie for our attention and discount the righteousness God’s Spirit garners in us, then this faith-walk becomes more steady and sure. 

When we stop looking right and left at what the world has to offer, where evil lurks, our feet will turn from evil. And pairing that with the clean hearts and upstanding mouths we discussed last week? Now that’s a whole body that is pursuing and serving the Lord– hearts, mouths, eyes, and feet to lead the rest of the self into God-honoring faithfulness!

Sometimes, we walk through seasons where making our way back to the path of righteousness is a struggle, let alone sticking to it. But the comfort we should grab hold of there is that God’s Holy Spirit is the one that empowers our souls to long for Him. “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, AMP)

God draws us to Him, empowering us in His strength to follow His will and His way, giving us the desire to live our lives in a way that pleases Him. So this path is not works-based. The way in which we walk it is not solely according to the merit by which we walk it. Our sovereign God gives us what we need, extends His loving grace to us, and when we truly take hold of that, we are then filled with the desire to be diligent to serve Him. When we realize the depths of His love for us, and the degree to which we don’t deserve Him, we can let go of evil things that appeal to our flesh and turn our feet away from God’s way. When we understand His kindness towards us, we are reminded to guard our hearts and keep our gaze fixed on Him. 

So let’s be encouraged to keep pressing on today. Let’s be renewed in our mission to look directly at the Lord, fixing our eyes on things that drive us towards righteousness. Look ahead– far ahead, not just at the next step right in front of you, and keep going down that road of faith, drawing ever nearer to the King and Creator who laid out the path and gave you the desire to walk it.