Narrow the Road and Live

“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).

Knowing the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave is quite different than following it in our daily lives. This part of the sermon is particularly difficult for Americans! For America is built around wide choices and a plethora of options to live life by. However, the wider the choices, the harder the choice is to make, so what do we do? We do more than we can handle. We want it all, after all the world’s wisdom says the one with the most toys wins, right? Wrong, the one with the most toys is destroyed. Likewise the one who embraces all or even many choices in life will come to the end of life with an exhausted spirit and no accomplishments worth reporting.

The Bible is filled with illustrations where God has called His people to choose the narrow and small road. The narrow and small gate (road) simply means there is only one way – no other options are on the table. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt, they had to walk through the Red Sea and trust that God would separate the waters and dry the land for them to walk through swiftly and with ease. There was no other way to trust God in this situation. Did they have choices? Yes, indeed. They could have gone through the Philistine country, because it was shorter and easier, but God knew that they would face war and they would change their minds and return to Egypt. “So, God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea” (Exodus 13:18). This seemed like an impossible choice. I mean really, walk through the Red Sea? They must have thought that Moses was crazy. What’s interesting is that if they had gone through the Philistine country – God knew that this way would have caused them to lose trust in Him and their fear would have taken first place in their hearts dictating their decision to return to Egypt. Fear is a dangerous leader.

Why do we want the wide and broad path? Because it’s easier to take. It requires less faith in God; it encourages more dependence on self.  But the real act of obedience and trust in God is when we die to self and our own desires in order to walk the narrow and small road. But most do not want to deny self. Most want to say “I love and obey Jesus” but in reality the wide and broad path we choose reveals that this is not the case at all.  

Choosing the narrow and small road requires constant communication in prayer with God, a saturation of His word in our daily life, and a radical obedience to His word and His Spirit when we are directed. It does mean saying no to many things and saying yes to one. Choosing the one is incredibly difficult. You might doubt and think, “What if I chose the wrong one?” or “What about the other choices, aren’t they worthy, too?” You may allow your mind to fill up with thoughts like, “What will people think? Who will I disappoint? What will I be missing?” When we allow our thoughts to go this way, we have begun the route back to Egypt and we have left our Lord and His purposes. We hear what Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Mark 8:33).

Who cares who we disappoint. Who cares if it looks like we have taken the less favorable choice to others and even to ourselves. It is not about us. It is about bringing glory to God the Father through our life of obedience. I am glad that I am not God and that He knows all and can lead me into the one successful route that He takes me on. I’m glad that I don’t have to wear the stress of all the decisions. I just have to love Him, trust Him and obey Him. His burden is definitely lighter than the burdens we put upon ourselves, for didn’t Jesus say, “…My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).