Jesus’s Advice About the Road Well Traveled {Matthew 7:13}

I know the roads by heart. Although it’s a 3-hour drive to see my grandkids, there are only a handful of turns.

So two weeks ago when GPS was advising me to take an unusual exit off the interstate, I wasn’t sure whether or not to follow it. I already knew the best route, the easiest path, the quickest roads.

And this unusual exit wasn’t it.

The Road Well Traveled

The 6-lane interstate is wide and quick. We naturally want to take the proven path, the one everyone else advises, the one that’s worked for us in the past.

But in our memory verse this week, Jesus was advising us again the road well traveled.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
Matthew 7:13

Read how The Message puts it:

Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do.
Matthew 7:13

We’ve been learning already in Matthew 7 about that narrow gate and the roads it has us travel:

• Don’t be judgmental
• Deal with your flaws first
• Ask for what you need
• Trust God’s gifts
• Do to others as you’d want done to you

Those can be some backwoods country roads. God sometimes takes us off-roading on dirt paths and up gravel driveways. He’s less concerned about the quickest route and more concerned about growing us along the journey and getting us to the proper destination.

Following our spiritual GPS may seem mysterious at times. And sometimes harder. And maybe even lonely now and again.

The way of faith is often a narrow way.

But the rewards? They’re always worth it! (We’ll see that in next week’s memory verse, Matthew 7:14, and the last memory verse of our Fall memory challenge).

God’s Direction

On my trip to see my granddaughters, I decided to follow the GPS instructions and get off I-65 earlier than I normally do.

And it paid off. I learned later that a bridge had gone out on I-65. Traffic had backed up for miles. If I had stayed on my regular path of following the crowd, my delay could have been hours.

Entering by the narrow gate may not always feel comfortable, but if God is the one pointing us to it, let’s take it.

Do you use GPS or are you an old-school paper map driver? How is your spiritual GPS? Share your thoughts in the comments.