Life is filled with many decisions. In Matthew 7:13-14 we come face to face with choices Jesus lays before us. We must choose between a life lived for God or a life lived for self.
To those who have chosen the wide gate, the broad way, the many who have chosen the way that leads to destruction I would just ask: how's that going for you? You may answer that all is well, you do not have a problem in the world. The sky may look clear right now, but according to Jesus the end will not reward you with life, but death, for that choice.
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with untold tenderness, embracing in His blessings those who felt least embraceable. To them He says with Isaiah (49:16) "I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." They are special and unique in God's eyes, beloved. Now He concludes the sermon with tough realities. The Sermon the Mount is not an intellectual option, a set of suggestions we can take or leave, one philosophy among many. No, Jesus makes it clear there is an exclusive way to live.
Life outside of loyalty to Christ is full of plenty of room (the broad way) for any moral permission - giving way to tempting things that seem to make life more free but really enslaves. The wide way says "do whatever pleases you", the rough way of discipleship says "do whatever pleases God". People, sadly even Christians, love to say "God is all about unconditional love - which means God wants us to be happy and we can do whatever we want whenever we want." That leads to people thinking "everything is the same" and "everything is relative" and "do whatever you want because all roads lead to God". Jesus says differently - He says there is a way that leads to life and a way that leads to death.
The Jesus way leads to life. Are you on that road right now?
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