I had a wonderful time with my oldest children last week. We went hiking in the gorge below our house and it was phenomenal. The view is beautiful, so far beyond description that I struggle to put words to it (hence the photos).
As I walked along the creek bed with them, wondering when my heart would stop from the exertion, heat, and humidity, I was reminded of Matthew 7:14 which reads: “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” As the sweat poured over my body, I couldn’t help but ponder the intensity of this passage.
It is as though the broad way is the normal life: busy, distracted, selfish, slam-packed with people, and the constant following of our natural inclinations. However, when someone is given the new life of Jesus Christ they are no longer their own but Christ’s (Galatians 2:20). Their natural inclinations are changed from the flesh to the Spirit (Romans 8:2) and so their focus is turned around. I have often thought that Jesus was speaking of us going against the grain. All of a sudden this easy, broad way becomes for them a hard, painful road in which they push against the flow, struggling to make it past those who are hurtling to the end for which they are rushing headlong. Instead of pursuing their own gain, these pilgrims must seek for Another’s which is found to be diametrically opposed to this world’s (1 John 2:16-17).
Hours later, as I sat, catching my breath, before we turned around to return up the gorge, I found myself dreading the hike back up. While the hike down had its own difficulty, the return hike was going to be much, much worse.
This reminded me of something that I once read about hiking in the Grand Canyon. The author, speaking of the many, many deaths that have occurred there over the past century, spoke of the deception that leads to most of those deaths. He said that people who plan to hike up to the top of large mountains often reach a point where they realize that they cannot go any further up. When they reach this point it is not a problem for them to retrace their steps because going down is much easier but when people descend the miles upon miles down into the very hot, dry, difficult trails of the Grand Canyon they do not realize how hard the return trip will be and so they blindly continue on their fateful journey. After they reach the bottom they expend more energy enjoying the scenery, maybe even swimming around in the cool river. When the time comes for their return to civilization they find that their path has become much too hard, harder by far than they remember it and so they fail. Most have to be rescued, leading to extensive hospital stays and even death. They were deceived by the easy beginning.
This deception leads to many mistakes that people normally wouldn’t make. The beautiful surroundings and the ease of the descent both work to distract the travelers. People who are typically intelligent take little, to no, water with them. Normal, sane adults will leave an established trail and strike out for what they “know” “has” to be a “short cut” and become lost, maybe never to be found again. These same individuals forget the time and continue on to the bottom without considering that the return trip will take much longer. Instead of following common sense and establishing a time after which they will not go any further, these individuals wander on and end up spending the night (maybe their last) in the dark, cold, snake infested canyons with little to no protection against the elements: chills, wind, rain, flash-flooding, mud slides, and wild animals.
While not as drastic as a hike down the Grande Canyon, we found ourselves facing some of the same challenges and temptations. At the beginning, I had determined that we must turn around at 9:30. “No questions about it. When I say we turn around, we turn around.” I said. “No discussion.”
The way down was so nice. We saw many beautiful things. We watched for any reptilian life. We added photos of a red-spotted newt to our collection. We saw several water snakes, even catching a small ring-necked snake.
But when 9:30 came around, there I was explaining that we would “just check around the next curve.” “We’ve got plenty of time to look around a little more.” The anticipation of what “might be” around the corner kept me going. Things were going so well that what was the harm of stretching the limit?
I didn’t realize that I was in danger of getting into trouble until I tried to justify “taking a short cut over the ridge” to make up the lost time. The downhill journey had been so easy. The rocks had been difficult to traverse and the logs were just slippery enough to cause us to strain a little but overall the descent had been enjoyable up to this point. Fortunately we had brought plenty of nice cold water but now we had to turn around and head home.
When I realized how hard the task ahead was going to be, I began to try to find another way out but there wasn’t any. We had to go up the way we had come down. Those rocks that we just slid down had to be climbed. Those logs that we had slipped over had to be by-passed. All of a sudden the hike turned into so much work. What an effort to put one foot in front of another. Before long the complaints started: “How much longer?” “Will you carry me?” “Can we take a break yet?”
The scenery that we had been ooohing and aahhing moments before was now totally ignored. All we wanted to do was get home and yet it was so hard. Our natural inclinations, the law of gravity, which had been our ally, now became our enemy. One step after another, up higher and higher, clawing our way through the tangles, struggling to ascend each boulder, our exhaustion became evident. Our ankles couldn’t hold us on the rocks and our arms kept fumbling over the logs. We weren’t even watching where we put our hands or our feet. We had no idea that our fatigue was going to put us into even more danger.
As we stumbled further up the creek bed I saw it. There, merely 4 feet away - directly in our path, I noticed the rattles. I couldn’t see more than 4 inches of the tail but it was enough to interrupt our adventure for a brief moment or two. Attached to those 4 inches and a rattle was another 36 inches of Crotalus horridus (a.k.a. Timber Rattlesnake)! He was lying there eating his lunch while we trembled in our shoes. The educator in me took over and my son and I carefully (read: very, very carefully) slid him into the snake bags we had brought. We always carry my snake hook and bags in case we find something interesting enough to take home. None of my children (or my bride) had ever seen a Rattlesnake before. Now they will know exactly what to look for as they explore for themselves.
This experience fits right into my thoughts on Matthew 7:14. We spend our life on the easy path. Slipping and sliding downhill enjoying ourselves as we casually watch the beautiful sights pass us by. We descend further and further into the chasm of our sinfulness. Constantly looking ahead, around the next corner, wondering what might be there to pique our interest, wondering if there is something there to make our trip worth it. Hopefully we reach the very bottom and find that there is no way we can ever make it on our own. We are brought to the realization that we are so far from home and we need help. How do we ever find our way? And “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).” "He came... and as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man (their natural inclinations), but of God (John 1:12-13)." "And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him (Colossians 1:21-22)." What once was the broad, easy way, has become a difficult, dangerous path with pitfalls and pit vipers. Those things that once captivated our hearts and minds now cause us to stumble. All that we have invested our lives in, the interests, our natural inclinations, the worldly philosophies, and the lusts of the flesh, have brought us to this point. Now, having been taken from death to life, we find ourselves fighting our way back up the trail of the consequences of our prior activities. We still must live our lives.
We still had to walk all the way home. On top of the consequences of our activities there are also many other circumstances that combine to make the path difficult. The only thing that kept us going was the hope of home. The reality of the difficulty that we faced only made it that much more attractive. The heat made us long for the coolness of our kitchen. The thirst made us hunger for the fresh water. The weariness only made us desire the couch. Likewise, all of the detours that Providence directs our steps through simply serve to whet our appetite for the ultimate goal. Paul tells us that he considered “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).”
How about you? Have you been distracted by the consequences of your life? Have you become handicapped by the circumstances that you find yourself in? “Do not be anxious for anything (Philippians 4:6)” one day we will be like Christ when we see Him as He really is (1 John 3:2). Now we “know in part; then we shall know fully, even as we have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).” Jesus told His disciples prior to His death that in this world they would have tribulation and then he made the most incredible, reassuring statement imaginable: “But take heart, I have overcome the world.”
Dear Reader; which road are you on? What is your destination; the broad or the narrow gate? How much longer will you fall victim to your sinful heart? How many more miles will you plunge down the easy path? WATCH OUT! The end is death! You need someone who can turn you around. This is the moment that you need to turn from your sins and ask for the forgiveness that only Christ can give. He is the only Being who has walked the path without stumbling, without falling. He is the only Being who has ever fallen victim to the consequences without committing the trespass. He is the only One who can lead you home. Won’t you call on Him today? Won’t you confess and trust in Him? He will give you strength!
