Choose the 'road of life' less travelled

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9: When you think of the direction of your life, where are you headed?

As we continue our study of the wisdom of Jesus recorded in the Sermon on the Mount, we come to His teaching regarding our choice of our path of life. 

Even though life 2,000 years ago seems so much less complicated than today, people still had questions about living. 

They still had choices to make regarding which direction they should take, as opportunities presented themselves.

“What is the right thing to do?” Some things don’t change.

Today, as in Jesus’ day, God regards us as very important and special to Him… so important and special that He gave His only Son that we would be restored to a relationship with Him (John 3:16). 

We’ve seen in our study of the Sermon on the Mount that He wants what is best for us and gives us good gifts… and challenges us to act accordingly as we go through life (Matthew 7:11). 

And we know from Paul’s teachings that God wants to shower us with His blessings, blessings that are so beyond us that Paul describes them as “infinitely more that we might ask or think” (Eph 3:20).

I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as our being pretty special to Him.  If God cares that much about us and loves us that much, He also cares about our life and how we live it.

So, what is the right thing to do, the right choice to make regarding the direction of our life?

Jesus gave some clear advice and a timeless message as He spoke on a mountainside by the Sea of Galilee about what direction we should take.

Matthew 7:13-14:
“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.”

Jesus makes it clear in this passage that there is one road that leads to destruction and another road that leads to life. 

Jesus’ advice was to enter through the narrow gate.

It is a small gate and a narrow road, but it will bring about life.

Sadly, He notes, few people will choose this narrow way in comparison to the wider gate and broader road of the larger population of the world. 

In other words, the narrow road is nowhere near as popular as the wide road. 

Jesus’ message also brings about another important point: Majority does not equal “right”.

There is a saying, “Might makes right!” but Jesus makes the point that we need to be wary of that type of thinking.

Many travel on the road to destruction. It has a wide gate to accommodate the ‘most’, yet it is the road headed to destruction.

I have observed that many people have chosen to live this life. I also have observed that many are “sick and tired” of the vicious cycle they are caught up in and they find themselves struggling to get free. 

Some are bound by drugs and alcohol, some are snagged by perversion or materialism, others are ruled by control or anger, and the list goes on.

This is the picture of life on the broad path, life described in a popular song a number of years ago as ‘life in the fast lane’.

But, there is good news. That broad and vicious cycle is exactly that, a cycle… it may even bring you around and around and cause you to pass the narrow gate again and again.

You can take the opportunity to choose the narrow road.

The narrow path leads the way to God the Father and to life, and the narrow gate is Jesus Christ. 

He is the One who died and rose again for us so that we can have an opportunity to believe in Him.

Jesus can break all of your past history, hurts and hang-ups.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, maybe it’s time you do so before you do another lap in the fast lane?

Why not turn and enter through that small gate and travel on the narrow road?

What a special life is in store for those who would just reach out to Him in faith.

By the way, that narrow road is not a cycle… it has purpose and meaning and leads to life everlasting.

It is on this road that God gives His children good gifts and unexpected blessings. 

It is on this road that He showers us with His love. And it is on this road that you will find that God has sent you His Guide, His Holy Spirit as the One who will guide you along the narrow road.

Give God a chance. Go ahead and walk through the gate. You will have the time of your life.

PASTOR GARY SIMONS is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship. It meets every Sunday at 10am at CedarBridge Academy, Devonshire.