Two Roads
“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those that find it are few” Matthew 7:14
I don’t know about you, but this passage does not make me feel warm and fuzzy. It actually makes me think, “Yikes! I guess I’m out of luck!”
But I wonder what Jesus really meant. This passage is found in the midst of other pointers on how to live in a right relationship with God. I think we have decided to interpret it as a way to “get into heaven,” as though we are club members with special privileges. But I can’t help think of it differently. To me, Jesus is suggesting that if we rest only on our own understanding and not follow the teachings of God we will go down the wrong path. If we try to go through this life without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will never really hear the voice of God on our own lives, therefore miss the life we were meant to live as a child of God. In this Jesus echoes the prophets.
In other words, we have a choice, a “two paths diverged in a wood,” kind of choice. If we choose the path that Jesus teaches, it will be difficult and unnerving, we will have to go out of our comfort zone, open our hearts and homes to strangers and strange ideas. We will have to listen for the voice of justice and fairness, we will have to see ourselves as emissaries of God and take it seriously. Being an example of his love, forgiveness and healing.
Golly! That is a lot to digest. Can’t I just say I am a follower of Christ and go through the motions? No one would ever know….
Ha! Good one. The answer is “no” (but it is fun to entertain the idea).
But the answer is “no”.
We are called to live in this conviction, there is no watered down approach…there is only a “narrow path that leads to life.” Love, forgiveness and healing.
Today, I pray for the wisdom to see that path that leads to life. I ask God for the courage it takes to live in a right relationship with God so that one day I may say as Robert Frost said, “I took the one less traveled by. And it has made all the difference.”
