The Narrow Gate

What path are you walking on? Are you on the broad path, the one it seems everyone else is on? Or are you on the narrow path, the difficult one to find, the ancient path? It seems as if nearly everyone is on the broad path, all going the same direction. Very few seem to be finding the narrow path.

I was walking on the treadmill recently and this came to mind. An ancient path. Overgrown with trees, vines, overgrowth so thick it was difficult to make out the path. Why do you suppose the path was overgrown? Why was it so hard to find the gate? Probably because the gate is narrow, hard to see, and the path is difficult to follow. This, dear sisters, is life.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ~Matthew 7:13-14

It breaks my heart to read that last statement, “and there are few who find it.” Why? Why are there few who find that narrow gate? Maybe they do find the gate, but they don’t walk through it. Maybe they find that the path is too difficult for them. I used to think that, too.

The world is on its own path. It’s broad. It’s filled with many enticing things. There are an extreme number of people who are on it. But Jesus says in the above verse that this path, this way leads to destruction. How many people, successful, prominent people, have we read about who have lost their lives to drug overdose? How many people have lost their lives because of violence? How many young people have taken their own lives because of abuse? This is what the wide gate and broad path leads to.

How many people do we read about who have walked through the narrow gate and are on that path? Not many. It’s difficult, but not too difficult. It’s long. But it can be done. The narrow gate, the difficult path, the ancient paths left to us by those who have gone before us, are still there. Waiting. They’re overgrown. They’re hard to find. But they aren’t out of reach. They aren’t out of touch. And you don’t have to walk them alone. You have a Guide. One who is waiting for you just beyond the gate. He will lead you. He will guide you. He will help you.

It’s not too late to take the narrow gate.