13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
The human body is composed of approximately 60% percent water. Water is the king of Osmosis. In simple terms, osmosis is water moving from places of high concentration to places of low concentration following the path of least resistance. Which is interesting because us humans are also great at osmosis.
We avoid challenges.
We run from difficulties.
We stay right where we are at if there is any sense of "danger" or pressure in moving in a new direction.
We seek the comforting embrace of familiarity, regardless of its problems.
And because of that, we rarely change and grow. In our avoidance of challenges we find ourselves tomorrow and the next day, right where we are today. The problems that assail us now will assail us always. It is only through taking on the difficult tasks that lay before us that we can hope to see ourselves become who we desperately desire to be.
Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying that every day we should do something that scares us. And there is nothing scarier than changing what you have done to pursue something new. To become new. To be remade.
But its possible. Completely doable.
In this passage Jesus is talking about the Gates of Heaven and the narrow path that leads us there versus the wide and comfortable path that leads to destruction(hell). This spiritual truth of the easy path being the dangerous path is written into the DNA of every one of us. Doing what is right is never easy.
Walking with God and rejecting the things of the flesh is always a much more difficult and unfamiliar journey than the comforting familiarity of our self centered decision making. For many of us the greatest obstacle to truly walking with God is our fear of what we cannot see. It is so much easier to just handle what we are used to. It is so much more difficult to walk a path that you cannot walk alone.
So we walk forward towards our own destruction.
Are you happy with where you are right now?
Are you content and satisfied?
Are you able to look with healthy pride at the condition of your heart and life?
If you answer yes to that, great. If you are like most of us, the answer is probably, not really. So what are you going to do? Are you going to continue doing what you have always done. Living for self. Leaning on the behaviors and attitudes that put you here?
I hope not.
Jesus didn't tell us about the wide and narrow paths to shove it in our faces that we are destined for destruction. The full context of His ministry and message of the Gospel is that the narrow path is something you can find, and something you can walk.
But not alone.
You CANNOT set your feet moving forward in the way you should go by yourself.
Here are some thoughts for getting your journey straightened out.
1) Be brutally honest with yourself. What is it that you are doing consistently that causes problems in your life? Is it specific choices of behavior? Is it people you allow to influence you? Is it what you allow your heart/mind to dwell on?
2) Take those honest answers and start praying!!! You are not alone. You cannot do this alone. Even if you don't think you can handle changing, pray about that. Like the Centurion one said to Jesus, "I believe, help me with my unbelief!"
3) Pursue healthy people in your life to be brutally honest with, who will hold you accountable and call you out(with grace) for your behaviors and attitudes. Who will lovingly remind you of the hope you have in the strength that is found in Christ.
4) Rinse and repeat
Nothing in life that is worth having comes easy. Becoming new, being restored, having freedom from sin. These are all absolute true promises of given hope because of the finished work of Christ.
Don't give up because it is hard. If it is hard, you are doing something right!
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