Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. – Matthew 7:14
My wife and I live in a small town, and several times a year we find ourselves traveling over four hours to visit a larger city for special events. We have learned that there are several routes that we can take to get there. We do not usually drive along the coast, because that highway winds along the coastline and my wife tends to get carsick. We do not like driving through cities either, so we usually take a more scenic route. That route goes through the countryside, and it suits us.
There are plenty of ways to get from one location to another here on earth, but the Bible has made it clear that there is only one way to get to Heaven, and that is through Jesus. Any other path in life will only lead to Hell.
A writer once said, “There are two religions: one that originates from man’s heart and the other originates from God’s heart.” Indeed, all religions that differ from God’s plan of salvation are merely the imaginations of men. When we seek God, it is vitally important that we do not try to find the way that suits us best, as my wife and I do on our way to the big city. If we try to find a “suitable” way to Heaven—or any way besides what is written in God’s Word—we will be disappointed.
Our focus verse says that the way to everlasting life is narrow and strait, and few will find it. People do not find God’s way because they are not looking for it, or they are not willing to follow it once they see it. If you are looking for Jesus, He will surely be found of you. Conversely, the way to destruction is broad and many will find it. People go in crowds on the broad way, hand in hand. They assume it must be right because everybody seems to be going that way, but the Bible says that there is a way that seems right to man and the end thereof is death.
When you enter the narrow way, you must enter by yourself. No one can take your hand and drag you through, and you cannot bring the same baggage that you would take on the broad way. I found the narrow way at an altar of prayer when I asked the Lord to save me, and I was suddenly able to see the goodness of that way. There are certainly trials along the way—valleys, obstacles in our path, and difficult places, just as there are on the broad way. But on the narrow way, God has promised to help us through. The Lord will step in and prevent the heartache that the devil has in store for those on the broad way and will give us blessings instead.
Have you ever had prayers answered sooner than you expected? Have you ever had God give you more than you felt worthy of? Have you ever thought that an outcome could not be good, and then the Lord made everything work out? That is the narrow way, that is God’s way, and that is the way we want. It is available to all who will seek Him.