Twists and Turns Guaranteed

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT)

Did you ever notice that part in this passage about the gateway to life? Yes, we remember it is narrow, but do we really focus on it being difficult? Not usually! We see coming to Christ as the 'easier road' - one less traveled, but once we find it, we believe the travels will be markedly different than the path we had chosen apart from Christ. While that is true, the path is not always going to be 'easily traveled'. Perhaps that is why it is the road 'less traveled' than the road to hell!

Either road is a choice. Don't miss that - we choose to serve our own desires and go the easiest way possible, or we choose to lay down our desires and choose to travel a road that has been prepared yet may not be the 'easy road'. As I have traveled various states across our country, I have noted several roadways that are 'prepared' for travel but are less than easily traveled. I think of some switchbacks in Colorado that have you going one way then the other with absolutely no 'wiggle-room'. Those roads were 'prepared' by architectural engineers, carved out of the mountainsides, and paved very well. They still aren't easily traveled!

Life is full of twists and turns, some almost catching us a little off-guard. If we just move along a path without much forethought or consideration for what might be found along that path, we might just become discouraged when we face some form of obstacle that slows us down or makes us consider closely the next steps we are about to take. As I have hiked some trails that are well-worn in some places, I have also come across some 'crossings' that aren't much wider than my foot, making their passage a little less 'inviting'. The narrowness of the path doesn't promise easy passage, but if we will trust the one guiding us along the path, we will find our footing quite well.

The highway to hell is broad - many take it because it is easy, inviting, and even a little bit 'rewarding' at first. The path to heaven is narrow - it may not be easy, but it is inviting and definitely more than rewarding. We don't know what twists and turns may come, but we can trust that our footing will be secure and our way will be 'guided'. God isn't promising easy passage - he is promising that we will be totally overwhelmed with more than we ever imagined possible when we see what is at the end of that path, though! Just sayin!