If we are so prone to wander, what can turn our feet from the well-worn path of destruction? How can we possibly commit to the command in Ephesians 5:15 to “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise”? We, along with Lot, Samson, and David, would be a people without hope if it were not for another man whose feet took Him to Jerusalem in obedience to His Father, who washed the feet of others, and whose feet were pierced through on a Roman cross for us.

Studies on nonverbal communication have shown that the feet reveal our intentions often more than our faces or words do. If you are in a conversation with a friend and they are smiling at you but their feet are pointed towards the door, chances are that they are subconsciously planning their exit. A coworker may appear cool as a cucumber before giving a presentation, but their tapping foot might betray their nerves. Rarely are we surprised by where we find our feet planted, for the orientation of our feet demonstrates the position of our hearts.

If your feet are headed somewhere, chances are your thoughts have already been there, plotting a path in advance. We are naturally prone to run to sin, and sometimes we stumble upon evil, but there is something particularly detestable about the feet that demonstrate a sheer lack of resistance and even delight in seeking the presence of evil. And God hates this.

The anatomy of the sinful person outlined in Proverbs 6:16-19 is representative of the all-encompassing nature of sin that we are advised to abhor as God does. If we are just skimming Proverbs 6, we might think that an easy application of the passage is that we can please God by simply avoiding any of the sins listed in the verses, and by steering clear of those places where evil abounds. The problem with this is that our default setting as humans is to love the things that God hates and to hate God Himself.

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