Hard or Easy Way

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NAS)

We have all at one time or other been given a choice to choose between a difficult road or an easy way out. While the soft or easy way out may seem to be the more sensible choice, the outcome of such a choice however usually ends with disappointment or bears little fruits. The hard choice or road on the other hand usually offers better promises and rewards.

While I was still an undergraduate, I used to choose for my written assignments, topics that were difficult and not so popular among other students because common topics seldom get good grades from the teachers. The reason was obvious. Too much of the same thing lacks originality, and without originality a student's hard work cannot be recognized.

Taking the difficult road however is never easy, but if we are ready to fight the good fight to achieve the goal at all cost, then our reward and prize await us. If we choose to take the easy road or the short cut, we may not yield the results we hope to achieve in the end, for what goes with the crowd need not necessary be what is right, and it is usually the narrow way that leads to life. The path of the crowd is not the same as the path of the Cross. The crowd tells us to rely on ourselves and to follow the world, but the Cross tells us to rely on the Lord and follow Jesus. The crowd suggests we bear our own burdens and earn our worth, but the Cross suggests we nail our burdens at the Cross, for Jesus is our worth. The crowd proposes we do much to achieve, but the Cross presents God's completed work through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.*

The Bible clearly states the words of wisdom when the author of Proverbs said "there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Many of us tend to choose the easy path or the soft route to achieve our goals or desires. However, what seems right to a man following a road that is wide and broad often leads to the way of death and destruction (Proverbs 16:25; Matthew 7:13-14). What appears foolish to a man following a road that is hard, narrow and difficult, on the other hand, leads to life eternal (Matthew 7:13-14). All of us must therefore be ready to take the hard route which leads to life, and give up the soft route which leads to destruction.

Dear Lord, help us not succumb to the pressures of the world to follow the crowd, but to look to the Cross and follow You. Strengthen us Lord as we walk the path that is narrow which leads to life, knowing that we can always rely on You to see us through. Keep us O Lord from straying to the other path which is wide and easy, but leads to destruction and death. Thank You Lord for letting us nail our burdens to the Cross, for You alone is our worth.

* Igniter Media. "The Crowd or the Cross" in Igniter Videos: Sermon Illustrations, Accessed April 26, 2009. Texas: Igniter Media Group.