Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14
We all need directions in life whether we want to admit or not to get where we want to go. Jesus gave us some insight as to our itinerary through life. In essence He said, “You need to pick an exit.”. We are in such a hurry to get to the next place, the next appointment, the next event that we miss a lot of life. Salvation and sanctification does not just "happen" to those who "flow" with others but to those who "seek". Christ gives clear instruction to beware following the easy way while disregarding its inevitable end.
The Deadly End of Easy Street – The Wide Path
• It is Easy to Find - The wide path is the one most traveled. It is the easy path. We don’t have to look hard to find it because we naturally drift towards it. You do not have to do anything to walk this path. Apathy puts you on it. If you have not chosen to leave it, you are in it.
• It Has No Boundaries - It is spacious, easy, no restriction – anyone can get on.
• It is a Popular Road to Travel - If you like to travel with the crowd you will go this way. You will never seem alone. It provides a false feeling of security and pleasure. People on this road use each other because it is a self-centered life. Most on the wide path don't really like the road or the crowd - they just don't know how to leave it
• It’s a Dead-End Road - Most people don't look where they're going. A very important question for all of us today is "If you get where you're going, where will you be?" Nowhere is this question more important than when it is related to eternity. At some point all of us will come to the end of our road. Jesus said, if you find yourself on this road you will find yourself at this destination.
The wide path has many ways that you can take and stay on the path. Substance Abuse, pride, materialism, sexual sins, hate, and bitterness are just a few things that will keep you on this path. The point is, you don't have to do anything to ruin your life. As a matter of fact, that's how you ruin it - by not doing anything. Most people don't care where they are going just as long as the way is spacious and filled with pleasure and friends.
All too often sin comes dressed in an adorable disguise and so we play with it. We focus on what we want and before we know it, we find ourselves going with the flow on the wide path, and it is hard to get off. But Jesus Christ is the way off the wide path and onto the narrow path, the path that leads to the abundant life we truly seek.
Scripture to Claim:
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12
