You are embarking on a journey to the Great City. It is the city of freedom, peace, and love, where you will be able to enjoy those things forever. The obstacles ahead of you on this journey are unknown. But what is certain, is that if you stop or turn back, that City will be forever lost to you.
The Road to Heaven
As Christians, a trek on this narrow road is the journey of those who seek God, heaven, and eternal life. We decide to set out on this road for God’s kingdom and only after we embark, do we discover what this path entails.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
In this verse, Jesus says that the narrow road is one that leads to eternal life. I don’t know about you, but as Christians, isn’t our hope and goal to receive eternal life in heaven? But what should come to our attention is that “only few people find it”. Let’s consider for a second… if the road to heaven is narrow with only a few finding it, then who is on it?
Let’s look at the statistics. Almost 80% of the world’s population is religious and of those people, 30% are Christians. That’s a huge number of people, isn’t it? Since they are all trying to go to heaven, and according to the verse we just read, are we to understand that they’re all on the narrow road? If we consider that Jesus said only few find it, the situation may not be as simple as we hope.
The Reality of the Narrow Road
To get a better idea of what the narrow road actually looks like, let’s take a look at people in the Bible. They are those who actually walked it and were able to enter the small gate: the 12 disciples.
Did you know that during the time of Jesus, believing in Jesus would get you excommunicated from the church? Since Israel was a religious state, excommunication meant being abandoned by your community as well. Not only this, the disciples of Jesus were also persecuted even further, until the point of death (John 16:1~4).
Simply put, following Jesus meant laying down your life. The 12 disciples, as we all know, were kicked out of Israel. They had to spread the gospel in hiding and in the end, were martyred. This could definitely be considered the narrow road, right? I can’t speak for everyone, but if I were one of the disciples, I don’t know if I could sacrifice my entire life. I don’t know if I could endure always hiding, withstanding ridicule, rejection, and torture on a daily basis only to be put to death in the end for my faith. It’s difficult to fathom but that’s the narrow road for you.
We know the reason the disciples readily sacrificed their lives was for heaven and salvation. And that is the same reason for our faith as Christians today.
But let’s ask ourselves an even more important question: Am I on that same narrow road as the disciples?
Am I Walking the Narrow Road?
Well just ask yourself, “Am I being persecuted, rejected, tortured on a daily basis? Does carrying out my faith require me to lay down my life?” For most Christians nowadays, this certainly isn’t the case. Most of us today, as Christians, aren’t threatened by death just because we believe in Jesus. Nor do we have to sacrifice everything we have in pursuit of our faith. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t to say that we don’t put anything on the line. But admittedly, there is a huge difference in the definition of sacrifice between Christians of now and at the time of the disciples.
What most Christians see as a sacrifice for their faith is taking time out on Sundays to go to church. Or abstaining from various worldly pleasures such as alcohol, parties, etc… As much as this is a sacrifice, is it really what Jesus meant by the narrow road? We have to keep in mind that it isn’t just Christians that give up worldly pleasures or take time out during the week to attend church. Just about every other religion does this too. So let’s take a moment to honestly reflect within ourselves whether the road I’m on is ‘narrow’ or ‘wide’.
I know it’s not pleasant to even entertain the possibility that we could be on the wide road. But with all honesty, if you’re absolutely certain that you’re on the narrow road, you may never even consider yourself being on the wide road. And that would put yourself at risk of a grave error. Whereas if you find the humility to question being on the wide road, you will do your best to first find your way to and then stay on the narrow path.
How to Get on the Narrow Road
So let’s think about it again, are you absolutely sure that you are on a narrow road? What would Jesus say is the ‘narrow road’ at this day and age?
If you’ve started to question these things, then that means you are ready to embark on a journey to discover the narrow road that will get you to that desired destination, the Great City. And thankfully, God has given you a map to use to find your way onto this road: The Bible. So if you want to get on the narrow road but don’t know exactly what it is, or if you want to know whether you are on it but aren’t sure yet, then it’s likely that you have not been using (or understanding correctly) the map God has given you.
It’s Always the Bible
If you’ve read this far and are asking “Okay I get it, SO WHAT IS THE NARROW ROAD THEN?”, well sorry to disappoint! This post is not to give you an easy immediate answer. But rather, to encourage the importance of knowing the Bible, the map, to get to heaven. And in doing that, understand that we must search within God’s Word for the answers. I remember when I was learning the Bible from my Bible teacher, we took a deep dive into the Bible to see what God’s answers and thoughts were rather than relying on my own beliefs and opinions. Only then did God allow me the eyes to see and the heart to realize.
So let’s open up the Bible and start seeking answers for this narrow road because the God we know will surely give us the answers if we truly ask, seek, and knock. And if you feel like you need some help, please send us an email because we are more than happy to embark on this journey with you and assist you along the way.
Written by Samantha
You can find some practical tips on how do deepen your life of faith here!
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