Which Way Shall I Choose?
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 NIV
Choices … Have you ever stopped to consider how many choices you must make every day? Consider the first thirty minutes. The alarm goes off. Do I get up now or hit the snooze button? How many times will I hit the snooze button? Should I shower first and then brush my teeth or brush my teeth and then shower? Or should I brush my teeth after I eat breakfast? And when should I shave? What should I wear today? Do I make the bed or not? Should I have eggs and toast for breakfast or cereal? If cereal, which of the three boxes do I choose? Shall I read the morning paper or listen to the radio or watch the news on TV? Which station? You haven’t even left the house for work and already you’ve made so many decisions that if you stopped to think about them, you would probably decide you’re already tired and make another choice to go back to bed.
So many of our day-to-day choices are so routine we give little thought to them and often they have little consequence in the greater scheme of life. Other choices have much greater impact. Should I marry and if so, whom? What line of work should I pursue? I’ve been laid off, what steps will I have to take to provide for myself and my family? Do I know all I need to know, or should I stay in school or go back to school? Should I root for the Wolverines, the Spartans, the Irish, or, dare I say it, the Buckeyes? Okay, so that last one really isn’t so impacting to life.
And there are choices resulting in serious consequences which should require conscious and serious thought. Indiscretions and compromises result in harmful consequences to relationships, to emotional and physical well-being. Marriages end in divorces because of choices that break the marriage covenant. Purchases made without thinking of how to pay for them resulting in financial collapse of families, organizations, and businesses. At the root of our current economic situation are decisions made without thinking through the long-term effects on self or others.
The fact is, all the choices we make in life are influenced by how we decide to answer the life choice. It’s the decision Jesus places before us in the above text: Which road will you choose? Or, from the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount: Who will you serve? It’s the choice that’s as old as creation. It’s the choice between having a relationship with God and wanting to be like God; between living only for and with God and living only for and satisfying self; between giving God glory and satisfying the desires of the sinful nature. How that choice was made in the Garden of Eden and how that choice continues to be made now is what allowed sin into the world to ruin our relationship with God.
Which way will you choose? I suspect that those of you reading this are already saying to yourselves, “I’ve already made my life choice. By God’s grace I’ve been saved. I choose God.” But are you living in your salvation? Do the choices you make in life come from that life choice? You see, even though we have repented of the sin of our past and accepted God’s forgiveness which is available to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection we must keep on making that choice. There is nothing the devil wants more than to see the very ones who are called children of God making decisions that pull them away from God rather than keep them close to God. Why because the more we fail to live in relationship with God the more our lives suffer and the more others will be kept from wanting a relationship with God.
Jesus’ illustration of the wide and narrow road was not intended for nonbelievers; rather, it was intended to show his disciples that the choices we make can mean the difference between life and death not just for eternity, but for here on earth as well. Jesus says that one way has a big, wide gate that is easy to get through. And once through it, the path is smooth. There are no rocks to stumble on or climb over; there’s no brush in the way; it’s smooth sailing; and it’s all downhill. It seems right and oh so many people are going that way. There’s only one catch – it leads to destruction. Solomon said not once but twice, “there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).
The other way has a very small, skinny gate; you’ll have to squeeze to get through. And once through it the path is narrow and hard. There are above ground roots to trip you, rocks to climb over, and brush to push through. Few people take this way, so the path is often overgrown and hard to make out. This way will challenge you and will give you achy muscles and skinned knees. Oh, and it’s up-hill all the way. It will be a struggle to reach the destination – but it leads to life.
Which way will you choose? It is one thing to say you are saved, but quite another to live it out. I will be honest with you, just as Jesus was; it’s not easy to live “I choose God.” It’s a choice between staying the same and changing. And we don’t like change. Change is hard. Change forces us out of what is familiar and comfortable. Change may mean being different than others … and we don’t like being different; we like to be liked. Change means admitting there is wrong and that I am wrong … and we like to think we are right. Change says there is a different way, a better way … and we’re certain that if everybody else is doing it, it must be okay. Change takes a lot of work … and we don’t like work; we like easy.
Which way will you choose? One choice is easy; the other is hard. One lets us go with the flow; that’s the easy one. The other forces us against the flow; that’s the hard one. When we say, “I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior,” we are accepting a new way of life that no longer conforms to the pattern of this world but is transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). No longer can it be our desire to gratify the sinful nature, because our old sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit of God; they are in conflict with each other. One calls us to do what God wants, the other gives into what we want (Gal.5:16-17).
To live into “I choose God” means I will have to go against the flow, against what everyone else is doing, against what my own natural tendencies are. But, to compromise, to allow indiscretion in our living destroys our witness, destroys our life, and destroys other’s lives. “I choose God” is to choose life and is the only place from which we can live.
Lent provides a season of worship and prayer, as well as self-denial and giving to others as you focus on the life and death of Jesus and the life you have been given. May it also be a time of personal reflection on how you are living out your life choice.
Which way will you choose?
As Moses told the people of Israel before they would enter the Promised Land, so I tell you as you enter and live into the promises of God:
“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land …” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).