Ten Steps Earlier

There’s nothing gentle about Proverbs 4:14–15. “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” It almost sounds like the Spirit is stacking verbs for those of us who are tempted to think, I’ll be fine. I can handle this. Don’t enter it. Don’t go in that direction. If you see it ahead, avoid it. If you somehow find yourself next to it, don’t linger to decide; turn from it and pass away.

Underneath those words is this simple, uncomfortable truth: the battle with temptation is often lost—not in the moment of obvious sin—but ten steps earlier, when we choose curiosity over distance. We tell ourselves, I’m just looking… just wondering… just trying it once. But by the time we’re “just looking,” we’ve already stepped onto the path wisdom told us not to enter.

In real life, that might look like never “just browsing” certain sites, never “just venting” with that particular person, never keeping that one app, song, or show that always leads your mind down the same dark hallway. From the outside, this can look extreme or overly cautious. But Jesus talked this way too: “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out” (Matthew 5:29). He is not calling us to harm our bodies; He is calling us to deal decisively with whatever feeds the sin. Wisdom doesn’t ask, “How close can I get to the edge and still be okay?” Wisdom says, “If the edge is over there, I’ll take another road altogether.”

That can feel like loss at first. Saying no to something that once entertained or soothed us can feel like cutting off a part of our normal life. But what if we framed it differently? Instead of, Look what I’m losing, we could ask, What am I gaining? A clear mind. A softer conscience. A freer heart. Every “no” to the wrong path is a “yes” to something better—peace, purity, and a closer walk with Jesus.

Then 1 Corinthians 10:13 steps in to steady our hearts: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful… will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” One hidden gem is that word “common.” The temptations that feel so uniquely humiliating, so “just me,” are not new categories. Others have faced the same patterns, the same pull. We are not freak cases God doesn’t know what to do with; we are part of a human family He understands completely.

Another little gem is in that phrase, “that ye may be able to bear it.” We often picture the “way of escape” as God suddenly erasing the desire or removing the situation altogether. Sometimes He does intervene that way. But often the escape looks like a door—a remembered verse, a phone call we could make, a browser we could close, a room we could leave, a song we refuse to replay, a different thought we choose to entertain. The escape is rarely glamorous; it is usually simple and humbling. But it’s there. The verse does not say God might provide a way of escape; it says He will.

And sometimes the escape is not out of the circumstance but into a different posture in it—a refusal to consent, a quiet clinging to Christ while the pressure rages. Think of Joseph in Egypt. His “way of escape” in that crisis moment was literal: a doorway out of the room, and he ran through it, leaving his garment behind (Genesis 39:12). But that moment didn’t appear out of nowhere. It grew out of the habits he’d already formed: avoiding the path, not just stepping out of it once it became dangerous. The big “run” in Genesis 39 was prepared by many small choices beforehand—choices of loyalty when no one was watching.

That’s what Proverbs 4 is trying to spare us from: the kind of life that always waits until the last second to start fighting. When we let these verses reshape our habits before the crisis—when we choose distance instead of curiosity, another road instead of the edge—we become far more likely to recognize that narrow door of escape when it opens. And not just to recognize it, but to run through it.

If you’re in a place right now where temptation feels loud and close, take heart: you are not the only one, and you are not without help. Ask the Lord, Show me where I need to avoid the path, not just resist the fall. Open my eyes to the way of escape You’ve already provided. He who warns us so plainly in Proverbs is the same God who promises in Corinthians to be “faithful.” He does not just shake His head when we stumble; He stands ready to guide our steps ten paces earlier, where the quiet decisions are made, and where victory so often begins.

If this Fireside Chat warmed your spirit and sparked fresh resolve to live what you believe, fan that flame with Scripture—“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Pull a little closer to the Light, and carry it into the week ahead.

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