Are You on the Right Road?

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14)

Few things are more frustrating, and at times more terrifying, than to find yourself on the wrong road while traveling! Maybe you know the feeling, beloved. You made a wrong turn somewhere, got off on the wrong exit and now you are on a road that leads to...well, you're not sure where it leads!

Did you know that this very scenario is played out every day, not just on the highways of the world, but spiritually in the lives of people everywhere? Jesus said that there is a road that is traveled by many which is plainly and simply the wrong road. As we return this week to the consideration we began last time of two very familiar verses of Scripture, we recall that one road described by Jesus is accessible by a gate that is very "wide," while the other choice is reached by a gate that is very "small." For a refresher on what we considered last week, may I suggest that you check out the devotional here that precedes this one?

In our focal verses, we find Jesus declaring first that the "wide" gate leads to a "broad" way. Isn't it fascinating that this first gate should enter to its own "Broadway" considering our own knowledge of that well-known American street in New York City? And why would such a road be so "broad" as Jesus has described it? I personally believe that one reason for its generous width must surely be because no standard of living exists to hem in the traveler's lifestyle. On the devil's "Broadway," beloved, every person will live by his own self-imposed moral or immoral standard. These life-travelers will be much like the ancient Hebrews during the oversight of the judges of Israel and about whom the Scriptures record:

"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6)

Surely another reason why this "broad" way will be so, beloved, is because there are so many worldly enticements to stop the traveler along the way. With few standards of moral conduct in place, the simple fact is that most any lifestyle is permissible and even encouraged. Recall what the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome regarding circumstances of that day:

"And, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them" (Romans 1:32)

Specifically Paul had just been writing to them about the sexual perversions of the day so familiar to them, beloved, and followed it by stating that men not only practiced such abominations, but even encouraged others to do the same! How much like our own society today does this sound? Very simply, the general attitude on the "broad" way is that if enough people are doing it there must be nothing wrong with it!

By contrast, Jesus also described the way which can be entered by the gate that is "small" and said that it is a "narrow" path to travel. But why would it be narrow? I personally believe that it is narrow first of all because the only standard of conduct present is the holiness of God Himself. There simply is no room for the world's indulgences on this road, beloved! This way will be traveled solely by those who have chosen to turn away from sin and to Jesus Christ in faith, those who desire more than anything else to live in a manner that is pleasing to God.

But another reason surely why this road is "narrow" is because the traveler here has but one focus in life. The one entering upon this path by the "small" gate is the one whose gaze is fixed solidly upon the Lord Jesus Christ. This, then, will be the highway of self-denial and not of self-indulgence. With the Apostle Paul these travelers are those who "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14)

Which road are you traveling at this very moment, beloved? Is it the "Broadway" of a lost world or the "narrow" way of a risen Savior? Can we say with W. Elmo Mercer in his beautiful hymn?

"Each step I take I know that He will guide me,
To higher ground He ever leads me on;
Until some day the last step will be taken,
Each step I take just leads me closer home"

Ron