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The Narrow Path
Friday, July 26, 2024 by Rick Stockwell
The Narrow Path
READ Matthew 7:13-14
“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
- Matthew 7:14 (NIV)
One morning, I discovered a construction project had blocked my normal running route. Forced to take an alternate path, I came to a fork in the road. If I turned left, I’d have a shorter and easier run home, while if I turned right, I’d have a longer and more challenging run, but would complete my planned mileage for the day. I immediately thought of the passage in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which illustrates the choice we each have to make about following God. Do we take the easy, broad road of conforming to the world’s standards, leading to eternal separation from God, or do we follow the hard, narrow road of following Jesus without compromise, leading to eternal life with God?
The sobering fact of Matthew 7:14 is that, according to our Lord Jesus Christ, only a few will discover and follow the narrow path. Most people think they’ll get into heaven because of their good works (i.e., if the good things they’ve done outweigh the bad things they’ve done, they’re in). While performing good deeds is an important indicator of where our heart is focused (James 2:18), and Christians will be rewarded for their good works (2 Corinthians 5:10), we can’t earn our way into heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). Compared to God’s standard of perfect holiness, all our good works are as filthy rags before him (Isaiah 64:6). The only thing that will enable the Christian to enter heaven and stand before God one day is that the perfect righteousness of Christ had been transferred to their account after they had placed their trust in him.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The narrow path isn’t always the easy path
Prayer: Father in heaven, please keep us on the straight and narrow path.
Prayer Focus: RUNNERS
Rick Stockwell
Rick Stockwell is employed as an IT Program Manager. He teaches Sunday school for kindergartners, is an elder at his church, and is the author of two Christian novels: THE WALL and THE BATTLE. He's been married for thirty-four years, and has two children and five grandchildren.
Book link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07HQ8G3MJ
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