Scriptures
"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 NLT
Message
I've been going through a rocky season in my faith recently. I kept falling prey to things I knew I shouldn't. I was familiar with the tactics that the enemy used in the past to draw me away from God but I kept allowing myself to fall into the traps and I was becoming discouraged. When I'm walking in obedience I have peace and I'm happy, but the world still had a hold on me. I wanted to be like the people in the world, they seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted to do and this caused me to fall. I forgot the peace and joy that God offered and continued to look for familiarity in the world which left me feeling hollow. I couldn't go back to the world in peace after experiencing God so every time I wandered away from Christ I never found what I was looking for because the person who felt those feeling and craved those things was gone. Sadly, this didn't stop me from going back to make sure, and every time I was left empty and dirty. I tried to justify my sin and Band-Aid it by saying God would forgive me, but I should want God's favor more than just forgiveness, I should want the blessings of growth in my faith and closeness to God that comes with obedience not just an excuse to continue on sinning. Even so this knowledge didn't make it any easier to stop sinning. Then I thought of the narrow and wide road. The narrow road as The Word says is the way to life and it's difficult and only a few find it. But the broad road is wide and many people enter it and die. I started to realized that I'm on this road, a road only a few find. Of course it was going to get hard The Word basically said the road was difficult. That explains why so many people aren't on it they're on the road to death, the road to hell. I started to realize that on this narrow road I'm going to feel lonely, sometimes I'm going to want to go the easy way, sometimes I will be rejected, but I had to remember the easy way was the was to hell, to death and I've been given life and with The Lord I have it more abundantly. So as you go through your day never forget where the wide road leads and be determined to stay on the difficult road. Those on the wide road might see your strength and be swayed to follow you as you follow Jesus.