So where is the road? It would be easy to say "follow Jesus and He'll
show you the road." But remember one point, it was Jesus who made the
statement that only a few would find the road, so although saying the
above would be correct, the point is that only a few can (or will)
follow Jesus.
Why? Answer this and finding the road becomes
immediately easy. I think the answer was given to me on my drive into
work today, and I would like to attempt to explain what was revealed.
First of all, picture one road. The easy one to find is the one packed
with lots of people. All of these people are heading one way, all of
them have different looks on their faces, but most look happy that their
on the path of least resistance. Next, find yourself going in that
direction. You were going that way at some point and you may still be
going that way now. Now take yourself through the act of accepting the
gift of salvation from Jesus. Note that this changes your direction in
the road, it doesn't necessarily remove you from it.
The road
represents your life and works, not faith. Faith tells you you're on
the wrong road, the works (or deeds) of getting off that road breathes
life into your faith [James 2:26]. Now, all of a sudden you're facing
all of the people you once walked with. Some stop and ask "What are
you doing, why have you changed direction?", and others just bump into
you or skirt out of the way and continue on.
Are you getting a little
bit of the picture now? Walking in the same direction as the ones that
do not have the gift does nothing to set yourself apart from them.
Imagine the difficulty in walking "upstream" against this current of
people and THEIR works. These are the difficulties of life. One guy
screams at you "TURN AROUND! YOUR CAUSING US NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS
WALKING AGAINST US! YOU SAY YOU LOVE US, BUT YOU HINDER OUR FLOW!"
You
hesitate and consider turning around and taking a "rest" from the fight.
At this point Jesus offers strength and you must choose. If you turn
around you miss the offering, if you seek Jesus He'll give you what you
need to keep going. (Remember not to stand in the path of sinners; get
moving.) It is the difficulties that Jesus uses to prove His
worthiness, but He does not cause them. They are simply part of being
on the road.
You might find that the further you are in the middle of
the flow, the harder it is to maintain your direction. Nevertheless,
look what you've found.
The NARROW road is this tiny path heading right
up through a torrent of people going the other way. It's a trip fraught
with persecution, and it's a fight from which Jesus is not going to
remove you (yet).
Removing you from the road removes the only
indication to others that there is some other road to follow. If you
were not there pushing your way through, no one would ask "What are you
doing, why have you changed direction?"
{An interesting addition to this picture is that some people may see your change in direction and choose to ignore it. They soon disappear behind you in the crowd only to catch up with you later. (or not)}
Wow! Does this mean that I should examine everything I do, and do the
opposite if the world is doing the same thing?
Maybe. It's not going
to be easy, but that's not the point of the road. The point is will you
maintain your direction... no matter what.
You choose: an effortless
trip to death and destruction, or difficult trip to everlasting life (in
paradise no less).
Paul writes "he who knows what is right and doesn't
do it, to him it is sin."
One could say, "He who knows the right
direction and does not go that way, to him it is sin."
Wow again... not
going the right direction equals sin. And the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God (the right direction) is eternal life.
To be with the Father you can't go in the wrong direction, nor can you stand still. You must hash through the crowd rejoicing that you are going on the path of most resistance, telling everyone on the way why.
One last point. Jesus has been to the ends of both roads and has paid the price of admission through the gate of only one.
This might of helped me more than you, nonetheless I have my 66 volume set of directions and a brand new set of hiking boots (I get a new set everyday), I'll see y'all up the road.
May our merciful savior Jesus Christ guide you and bring you peace.
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