Watch Where You Step {Matthew 7:14}

When You Need to Be Careful

This has been a dirty season in our backyard. Flocks of geese have been flying through, landing in the lake behind our home. And using our grass as their personal restroom.

We have to be careful where we step.

While I’m free to wander outside barefooted, not watching where I step, I’d rather not. I don’t want to follow in the popular path where the geese have walked.

Sometimes it feels tight and restrictive to be so intentional about where I step.

Walk with Jesus

In our memory verse this week (our final verse!), Jesus said to His followers on the mountain:

“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:14

Jesus was telling them to watch where they put their feet. Be mindful of their steps. Watch where they put their minds, who they walk with, how they take their steps.

Sometimes the gate feels very narrow. Remember Balaam and his donkey (Numbers 22) on the road to Moab? The donkey became hemmed in on all sides. There was no way to turn, either to the right or to the left. Balaam was angry at her. Balaam couldn’t see the angel of the Lord standing in the narrow place between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.

But God’s narrow path saved Balaam’s life. Had the donkey not turned aside from the angel, Balaam would have been killed.

Boundaries are beneficial.

When our own narrow paths feel burdensome, we can trust that God is guiding us as well. We never walk alone. God is always with us. Jesus is the Way itself that we travel.

Walking with Jesus not only leads to life eternal, but is life-giving, each step along the way.

“How blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!”
Psalm 84:5-7 (The Message)

Thanks for walking with us through Matthew 7:1-14 these past 10 weeks. We hope you’ve benefited from our time together in these words of Jesus. May His truths continue to guide all our steps.