Off the beaten track
"Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it." Matthew 7 : 13 - 14 (GNB) |
Imagine that you are hiking in the countryside. You are walking down a footpath until you come to a fork in the path. One way is well trodden, and there are plenty of people passing up and down it. Many of whom look less fit than you.
The same is not true for the other direction. As you peer down the path it looks pretty overgrown and boggy as if no one had set foot in that direction for quite some time.
Which path would you take? Would you turn left and take the route that is popular and well-trodden, or right down the one that is largely overlooked and overgrown. Unless you are particularly adventurous the chances are you would turn left, feeling assured by the countless others walking alongside you.
However as we see in our passage this week for the footpaths of our lives. This being the decisions that we make and the things that we chase after in our lives. Popular is not always best.
Jesus compared the decisions that we make on a daily basis to a footpath not too different to the ones we have just been thinking about. Many people in our world will be happy with following the crowd, and walking in the footsteps of everyone else. After all, this is the easiest option.
However if is not the option that we are designed to take. As we see the easy well-trodden path leads to destruction, it leads to hell. The widely ignored route, the one which is a bit harder to navigate is the only one which leads to a life that lasts forever.
This might not seem like the obvious option now. You might feel a bit silly splitting off from the crowd not really knowing the route that the path will take, but this is ok because we know where the path ends up and it will be worth the effort.
This week think about where the forks in the path are in your life, and ask Jesus to give you the strength to go off the beaten track. Have a great week.
This week's song is How Great is our God by Passion. |
Header image by: James Rhodes via Flickr