No doubt you have noticed that just about every river on the face of the earth is crooked. One may go along in a straight course for a few miles, but soon it is winding and twisting again. It is said the river Jordan is over two hundred miles long, but if it went on a straight line from where it begins to where it ends, it would be only about eighty miles in length.

Have you ever wondered how rivers get crooked? They get that way by following the path of least resistance. They always hunt the easy way, and always are on the downgrade. When a stream comes to a mountain, or even a hill, it goes around it.

People get crooked the same way rivers do - by following the path of least resistance. In other words, by always hunting easy jobs, or easy ways to get along. This desire to get by without work and effort causes many sins. It makes one neglect the church, the Bible, and prayer. It encourages dishonesty, stealing, and telling of lies. It is a sad day in anyone's life when he decides to try to get by in the world of the church without effort. It is not ease, but effort, that brings out the finer qualities in us. Looking for a soft job is a job for soft men.

The Bible shows many examples of how men became sinful by following the past of least resistance. Cain did the easiest thing (Gen. 4:1-8). Lot made an easy decision (Gen. 13:5-13), which eventually cost the lives of his family. Aaron did the easy thing in not opposing the idolatry of Israel (Ex. 32:19-24). God plagued the people because they made the calf. Felix followed the easy way by waiting for a "convenient season" to obey the gospel, but instead, lost his soul (Acts 24:25). Demas followed the path of least resistance by returning to worldly practices, and thus forsook God (2 Tim. 4:10).

There are no elevators in the House of Success; you must toil up the steps, one at a time.

- From a bulletin for this congregation, Dec. 24, 1972