The Difficult Road
Is our faith journey supposed to be easy?
Verse of the Day
“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.”
Today’s Devotional
There is a safe, comfortable feeling driving on a road that is big and wide and open. On the other end of that spectrum, it feels dangerous and scary to drive on narrow and difficult roads. I’ve driven in some places that make me feel very uncomfortable, to the point of having major doubts in my driving abilities.
Jesus is teaching me that I should not be looking for the easier, softer way. I should not be surprised when my life has difficult choices or when my self-will is trying to drag me back to the “broad highway”. One commentary says, “If your road has a gate that is easy and well-traveled, you do well to watch out.”
Another commentary says, “It’s clear He is pointing to Himself and His teaching on inner righteousness as the “narrow gate.” He also indicates that this opens onto a hard path. In other words, those who follow Him should understand they are choosing a difficult road, from a worldly perspective. It will, however, lead to life.
The choice most people will make is the wide gate leading to an easy path. The imagery of a “wide” gate implies something easy to see, and easy to get through. It also suggests something that accommodates our preferences: wide gates give us more choice over how to pass through than do narrow ones. Since what lies on the other side of that gate appears to be easy, it’s the choice most people will make.
In part, Jesus is referring to those who will continue to follow the teaching of Israel’s religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees. Their legalistic teaching about the Law required from Israelites no heart change, only outward, self-promoting obedience to the rules. Israel’s religious leaders emphasized that only outward actions mattered and not inward righteousness before God. This is “easier,” in a sense, because it only requires a person to pretend to be righteous.
Being “wide” also implies that the gate leading to destruction accepts many different approaches. Scripture is clear that there is only one way to salvation, which is Christ (John 3:36; 14:6). Those who prefer to go “their own way” are simply going to their own doom. In other sermons, Jesus also indicates that He is the sole means by which men can be saved (John 10:7).
The narrow gate, though, opens to the hard way of following Jesus. This gate is “narrow” because there is only a single means of salvation, which is Christ. It is difficult because Jesus’ disciples will be persecuted by His enemies (John 15:18–25). It is the way His followers must travel, however (Matthew 5:10–12). The path of Jesus is the only path to eternal and abundant life.”
A third commentary pointed out something that I find very convicting. “Entering the narrow gate is still difficult because of the opposition of human pride, our natural love of sin, and the opposition of Satan and the world in his control, all of which battle against us in the pursuit of eternity.”
All of this leads me to question where and how I am choosing the easier path in my life. I want to obey the teachings of Jesus, so I should expect for the journey to be difficult, because He is telling us that it will be. Are we still willing to follow?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How have you seen the evidence that choosing an easier path did not lead you to God or to abundant life?
How have you been frustrated or discouraged as you’ve been following Jesus?
What scares you about this teaching of Jesus?
What is Jesus teaching you today?
How do you need to be obedient today?