13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
There are people, including some who sit in church beside you, who worship and sing, listen to the message, and then go out and live life as a Christian on their own terms. They conclude that they know what it takes to be right before God based on their own sense of morality, conscience and truth. They join many on the broad highway, and they do it willingly.
Why do so many people take that path? Simply put, they refuse to believe we can’t be good enough, that if we just push ahead, we will stand before an approving God. This is the same root of pride that caused the fall of mankind—the lie that we can be like God on our own. Human effort fueled by pride insists that “doing it my way” is right. Self-approved and forgiving, they easily adjust to the prevailing cultural winds with a semblance of morality and pious humility, giving an impression of spiritual maturity.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ had just dispelled this falsehood by revealing and condemning the outwardly righteous Pharisees as empty hypocrites. They were headed for destruction, and they were leading others to follow that same broad highway—people who were deluded and on their way to hell.
Christ revealed another way, the narrow way, the way of the cross that He alone could implement. It is God’s only remedy for our sin problem. No other way exists, even though many think there must be. Every other religion in the world follows this line of thinking. Christianity alone says we can’t get there on our own. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
There is no other way. Are you on that narrow road?
The good news is that you don’t have to go there alone. Christ works through you to be the means by which others can get off the broad road of destruction and join you on the narrow road to life. Just like someone once had a gospel conversation with you, are you willing to have that conversation with others?
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Do you know people who may be on the broad highway? Make a list of them, pray for them, and ask God for an open door to have a conversation with them.
- Memorize Matthew 7:13-14. Write down your thoughts about the broad and narrow roads. What do they look like? Who is on it? What are they doing? Then, in light of eternity, which one have you chosen?