Ditching Your Future

(Proverbs 2:18 KJV)  For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

In this verse the NASB uses “tracks” (4570) for the “paths” of the KJV.  My mind started wandering and I finally looked the word up.  There are a number of different words that are translated this way.  They all have to do with the route traveled but each one has a little bit of a nuance. 

One of the senses that this word conveys is “entrenchment.”  It is a pit deliberately dug around a military camp to protect it from attack.  The Roman army was famous for this and of course that was much later than Solomon, but even in his day it was practiced.

(1 Samuel 17:20 KJV)  And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

It can also have the sense of a pathway that has been worn deep into the ground because it has been walked on so much.  You have seen this in an empty field that has a hard path angling across from so many people taking short cuts.

So?  What kind of a future are your feet wearing for you?  Consider the things you do without thinking about it.  Little decisions, made often enough, cause big results.