Apr 10, 2013

Our Choices Matter

Read | Galatians 5:13-16

Most people who choose to walk through the wide gate don’t stop to consider the pros and cons of taking the path leading to destruction. Instead, they drift onto that roadway without thinking of the consequences. The narrow gate is different—we must deliberately choose to pass through it and take the sparsely populated way to heaven.

Walking on the narrow road requires faith, discipline, and determination. We must be reading the Bible daily and main- taining an active prayer connection to God. By surrendering our lives to Christ, we keep our hearts on a path of righteousness.

Truthfully, we all have desires—that is, fleshly appetites—that find the easier pathway more attractive. In other words, we are each tempted to sin. As we choose to give in to temptation, our feet may remain on the narrow road, but our hearts return to the broad way. The more we choose to participate in sinful actions and attitudes, the deeper our heart becomes embedded in the worldly way.

We may try to tell ourselves that we are achieving freedom and that it is our right to do what we want. However, the truth is that we are grasping at false contentment while the “genuine article” awaits us if we simply return to obeying God.

And we are not the only ones injured by our rebellion. Fellow travelers on the broad way are watching us. When we act just like them, they make a judgment: “Hypocrite!” In that way, we can easily lose our testimony.

The narrow way may be hard to follow, but God promises constant aid and great reward—salvation and joy now; heaven later. Have you chosen the narrow gate?