A: A text in the Bible used to make me nervous. «There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death» (Proverbs 14:12, KJV).
Excuse me? You mean I can go through life thinking I’m doing the right thing when I’m really not?
Solomon, who wrote Proverbs, wasn’t exactly Mr. Sinless. He lived his life the way he saw fit, disregarding God most of the time. The king firmly believed he was doing the right thing, but it was his thing, not God’s.
Later in life, he wrote, «I denied myself nothing, my eyes de-sired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor. . . . Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun» (Ecclesiastes 2:10, 11).
Poor King Solomon. He hadn’t learned the lesson you can right now. Doing the right thing begins by discovering what God considers to be the right thing. That’s why He handed down the Ten Commandments and His many ideals and formulas for living a satisfying life. Solomon thought he knew better than God. But he didn’t.
You’re doing the right thing when you’re living by God’s laws as clearly outlined in the Bible. Everything else is meaningless.