Lesson Five: The Gate and The Path
Devotion #5: The Narrow Road
Debbie Gabbara
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus teaches that the way to God’s Kingdom is like a road. He describes one road leading to life and the other to destruction. The wide road is easy and is traveled by many. The narrow road is difficult, and few choose to take it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT) says, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
One Sunday morning a couple of years ago, a lady stopped by the church to ask a few questions about what we believe and teach. During our short conversation, she told me that she believes that there are eight billion people in the world and eight billion different ways to get to God. However, Jesus tells us so clearly in the book of Matthew that the one road that leads to Him is difficult, narrow, and not found by many. The lady only stayed a few minutes, but before she left, she told me that a place that strictly teaches the Bible was not what she was looking for. Sadly, she had no interest in the narrow way that leads to Jesus.
In Jesus’ day, many false teachers, including the Scribes and Pharisees, taught the importance of religious rules. They appeared to be religious by practicing rituals for others to see. They believed they could please God through a system of rules and relied on their own self-righteousness. They judged those they felt did not live up to their standards. In Matthew 23:28 (NASB), Jesus said of them, “So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Today, many religions still teach that through works and rules, you “might” earn your way to Heaven. So many people trust in themselves and what they can do to get to Heaven on their own. Yet, the Bible says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT).
Religion also suggests that you can earn your way to God if you are good enough. Romans 3:23 (NLT) says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
There are not eight billion ways to get to God. Though we have all sinned, we are made righteous in Jesus. We cannot ever do enough or be good enough to earn eternal life on our own. Jesus told us small is the gate, and difficult is the road that leads to life. There is only one way to salvation. Eternal life can only be found through our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The road to God may be narrow, but it is available to all who will choose it.
John 14:6 affirms, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”