The Road Less Traveled

"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

I love that poem by Robert Frost. I have no idea what the man was thinking when he wrote it, and I'm sure scholars have picked it apart over and over, but by golly, it sure can be applied to the Christian life.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

As we see in Matthew 7, the Christian path, the one that Christ made for us, is the one less traveled. But to travel it, to make that choice and head down the more difficult road truly is the one that makes all the difference. And along the way, along that path, every once in a while there will be a small, enticing trail that leads back to the other path- the path that's easier, that everyone else is following. This trail has been carefully laid by the enemy and he wants you to take it. With constant prayer and our Lord's help we can see these trails for what they are and pass them by and stay constant. Occasionally there will be a fallen log or a bog to traverse. Perhaps there will be a sudden drop that we need to find our way out of. But along this path, along God's path, there will always be help. There will always be others there to help us along our way- we do not walk it alone.

"Small is the gate, and only a few find it." That's such a heartbreaking thought. I thought of this yesterday as we woke up in the morning and headed to church. No one in the area was stirring. No one was on the road driving, none of our neighbors were out hopping into their cars to go to church themselves. I pray that God uses us to stir our city. To stir our neighborhood, so that we can take as many through that narrow gate as possible. We don't want to go by ourselves, we want to take our entire community with us. And with God, all things are possible.