The Narrow Road

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 

Matthew 7:13-14

Why would anyone choose this narrow path? Its entrance is narrow and hard to find. More than that it is inconvenient for you can't pass through a narrow gate with all your baggage. You must lay down nearly everything you have to enter through it. This is, of course, a picture of Jesus You must lay down all your sin, all your pride, all your hopes and dreams and all your allegiances. You must make Jesus your all in all to enter the Christian life.  

And that’s only the beginning. Once you're on the road you must then persevere in walking its difficult path which is marked by persecution and hatred. Always you will be under attack by the people of this world. Always they will shout taunts and discouragements at you. Then besides the opposition there is also the great difficulty which the road itself presents for it's a difficult path, unpaved in many places, at times unmarked, up hill, over gorges through ravines, it will take you right down through the valley of the shadow of death. So again I ask, why would anyone choose to walk this path?

For one very simple reason: it’s the way to life! In other words, the destination’s worth it! 

For a little while in college I enjoyed mountain climbing. Now mountain climbing is one of those combinations of words that sounds very exciting. It sounds like I was hanging on the side of a cliff and climbing up the mountain, but that would be rock climbing. Mountain Climbing much more often looks like walking… up hill… for hours. Now, the only reason a sane person would willingly hike uphill for hours on end and then back down again is because they believe that the reward, the view from the top, is worth it. If they didn’t believe that, they would never do it. 

It’s the same with the Christian life. Why would anyone choose to follow Jesus down the narrow road with all its sacrifices? Because they believe the reward is worth it. You see at the end of the narrow road is life and walking the narrow road is the only way to reach this life. That makes it all worth it. 

So, consider your end. Forget about what you want or what would be easier for you right now and answer this one question- Where do you want to end up? Many of us have at different times in our lives tried to take the easy way out. We’ve taken shortcuts. We’ve gone down the easy path. And we have learned from experience that it doesn’t matter how easy the road is if it takes you to the wrong place. Make sure you are headed in the right direction. If you aren’t sure that you are, then turn around and let Jesus place you on the right path. Because I can tell you from experience that it’s worth it.