MATTHEW 7:13,14
NASB:
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
13 £ Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate.
14But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
13“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14£Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
TMSG:
13“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. 14The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
Its sad when I think of how many people believe there are so many ways to God, and the life HE has for them. I used to be one of them! The wide road did not give me joy, only temporal joy. The wide road did not help me to sleep at night, instead nightmares filled my sleep. I made one bad choice after another. The wide road…seems appealing, but it leads to destruction. Not my words but the Lord’s. I believe HE knows what HE is talking about. HIS plan, HIS salvation given to me, and HIS direction for anyone wanting to come to HIM. The world just offers so much!! Wondering today what makes the wide road so appealing to us. Is it that we want to be in control of our own destinys, or maybe we want the best of both worlds? When I look at these verses, I have to step back and re-evaluate what road am I on? Do I have peace? Do I have joy in bad situations? Am I secure in my salvation? In order to answer yes to these questions, I really need to re-evaluate my lifestyle, and does it line up with what the Lord has to say in HIS word… we can’t take some of it and leave some of it because that would make the road wide.
As a mother, I have things I have to do according to God’s word. I need to raise them in knowing HIM, I have to show them a Godly example, and I need to show them that I am not perfect, and that Jesus loves us anyway. I need to show them that sometimes we turn the TV off because it is filling us with things that are not appropiate, and not pleasing to God. There is total freedom in Christ, but it is HIS way. Sounds contradictory huh? It’s not! But it must be experienced by the individual. I am free from the pressure the world lays on me to be an over achiever, I am free from doing things I really never wanted to do anyway. When I become weary, I come back to these verses, and refocus…I don’t belong to the world, I belong to Heaven! I have found the narrow road/gate, and although its hard sometimes to make the right choices, There is no better place to be. I would not trade this life with Christ for anything! This world has nothing for me, that even slightly compares to HIM. Here are the words to a song my Hubs wrote a while back when he first came to Christ, if you are still on the wide road, going through the wide gate, and you are reading this…there is still time to switch roads…
WIDE IS THE ROAD
Wide is the road I’m on,
Long are the days
Been searching for so long,
so many ways
Thought I knew the answers,
thought I had a plan
Just another dead end street,
just don’t understand
Wide is the road I’m on,
dark is the night
Can’t seem to find my way,
can’t get it right
Running circles, running out of time
Looking for the answers
I might never find
If you get behing me on the judgement day
Hope you brought a book along
to pass the time away
I heard about a Savior,
who died to set me free
Just might be a little hope
for a fool, llike me
Wide is the road I’m on,
long are the days
But things are getting better now,
in so many ways
I tell you it’s no secret,
its easy and its free
It’s locked away inside your heart
Jesus is the key.
(copyright 2008, Scott Frantz)
ponderings of a princess... 
I have watched my wide road grow narrower with each passing year of my life. Gods directions must be read and followed carefully so the dead ends become less and less. I am still learning but feel more on course than ever before in my 60 young years. I am determined to stay on this path and when I fall, get back up and keep going. I have learned how forgiving He is when I just keep trying and don’t get defeated.
I am so grateful He chose me and never gave up. Wow, I am blessed.
Love you Darla, Laurie in Ca.
I agree w/Laurie – it has taken me 60 + years to narrow this road down. It involves two basic things obedience and experience! I am learning all the time and continuously working on my obedience! Keep narrowing that road Darla! :o)
AHHH – The narrow road. The one I am on as a Christ follower. But to be honest i see it from time to time widening and curving wildly and i don’t like it. But then I realize, it’s only wide and winding because I have changed my course. It happens less and less. In fact, it’s been a long time – but I am still on the narrow journey. I’ve lived both extremes – and now, I am finally free!
I so agree with all of you. Sometimes the road looks so unfamiliar and i am fearful to walk on it. But through Jesus, I am able to move one step in front of the other. And papa is right, obedience and experience helps, and we need it to keep walking. That of course is the key to the narrow road, Jesus. He is like our guide and he will take us through. God bless all of you. Love Tanya
Princess,
I know all about roads lately, especially the curvy, windy, and seem endless ones. I love being a Christ follower, but sometimes these roads seem tougher. Than like today, I feel I’m accomplished because the road seems easier and narrower. A great post.
Love you lots princess.
I’ve always admired the narrow road, but I was under the impression that I was to ‘fat’ to get through the gate, however, when I found out that I could lay down all the extra weight at the foot of the cross, I fit through just fine. These days – ‘fat’ means something different to me
“F aithful, A vailable, T eachable” Proud to say, I’m still “FAT”, but I’m on the narrow road with you!
Ah, the narrow road, the wide road, the road less taken, the crossroads. Boy, there are a lot of roads, but only one that leads us to Heaven. That road is not always the easiest traveled, the most popular, or the quickest, but in the end…..that road will lead us to joy, peace, and eternal life.
Thanks for your post! I love hearing your heart.
Love and Blessings…..
Cool poem/lyrics/song. Love it. A young college student in our church wrote something beautiful about the broad and the narrow road… I’ll look for it and share it with you.
Thanks Darla! (And Scott!)
I needed this encouragement today. Sometimes I think I might be too narrow – I have no desire to be legalistic. I believe if we are in Christ then we’ve been set free, I do not want to be bound by any man-made rule.
But, you know, sometimes sharing the truth in love is seen as arrogant and too narrow. So, for me, this was encouraging…
Those lyrics are so powerful! How about some music to go with them??!!! 🙂
Thanks for encouraging me! I had to make a tough choice about a t.v. show this week. The answer was no and at first it brought all sorts of “drama”, but after awhile, we were able to discuss why it was a no. She got it…..doesn’t mean it’s easy to hear your friends talking about it!!!
I love you!
steph.
oh, and thanks for the “plug”…:)
Steph- the music is recorded yet and did not make the first two cds, but hopefully there will be a third. I will try to send you one of the cds..late this weekend…and your blog rocks!! and that lil darlin of yours…my my my she has stoled my heart! love you Prin!
AW YAW are awesome, and I love your thoughts, and confirmation. The wide road sure is enticing, and full of empty promises…the narrow road is harder, but full of promises that will happen…today is one of those days, I am so ready for Jesus to come, and longing for heaven a little more each day…I do not want to be legalistic, and I have totally shut down that and some of the fundamentalist in me, but being true to the only one who matters is huge, even when others don’t get it. My Jesus is real, and he sits right here with me, and I am not ashamed of HIM not even alittle. Love y’all
We at Bodybuilding Rx believe that If you want to unlock the personal floodgates that reside within, to gain absolute huge growth and reach your potential. You need to reach within yourself Bodybuilding Rx is here to help. We are looking for volunteers as this is a NON PROFIT website.If you are here, you are looking for a brand new you. Let Bodybuilding Rx show you the way. We have been around since 1999 before anyone knew that .com was the end all be all. We invested in our name and Bodybuilding Supplements. That’s it. We know two things. Legal Steroids (Bodybuilding Supplements) and fitness.
how to take steroids
Glad to found your homepage, pls contiune your work and keep posting entries
You certainly deserve a round of honor for your article and more specifically, your blog in general. Very high quality entries.