Travel Light

God is the King of metaphors.  I know, I know he is also the king of all that was, all that is, and all that ever will be, but he is also the king of metaphors...just sayin'.  I had some other blogs prepared that I was going to post next, but this "Narrow Way" thing has been on my mind (See Narrow Gate post from last week).  As I thought about this passage of scripture I always envisioned the wide road heading off one way, and the narrow road in the opposite direction.  I don't think that is the case anymore.  I think they run side by side.  I picture one big interstate wide road heading off into the distance.  The trees are all cut down on the sides, the ditches are clear and you can see for miles ahead of you.  I then picture the narrow road as hidden behind the treeline on the right hand side of the road (no particular reason, that's just where it is in my head).  This is a gnarly road (more like a path), twisting and turning through the trees, up and down hills and ravines and you can only see steps in front of you at any one time.  The destination is the same, we're all trying to make it to the end of the road.  Metaphorically speaking, this is what my journey to the narrow way has looked like so far.

I was on the wide road.  Everyone that I knew or wanted to be around was too.  All of the things I needed to survive were with me on that road.  I pushed them in a big cart.  I had my addictions, my friends, my pride, my fear, my insecurity, my self-reliance, my selfishness, my anger & jealousy, I even had my self righteousness tucked away in the little pocket of my shirt.  Whenever I had a need I would just reach into my cart and get it.  When I was bored or depressed, I would reach into my little box of addictions for a little taste and then I'd be good for at least another mile.  When I was feeling a little too optimistic, and the journey seemed to be going well I would reach into my box of fear just to even everything out.  You get the picture.  Whenever I had a need on the wide road, I'd reach into the box on my cart and pull it out. 

Usually on the wide road we just look straight ahead to see what's coming next, stare at our cart to make sure we don't lose anything, or  look around at our fellow travelers to see how they are fairing and judge them because they brought way too much stuff.  I'll be honest with you.  The wide road can get really boring.  Sure there is always something going on, but its usually nothing new and we entertain ourselves by doing the same thing over and over again with a little variation to make ourselves think it's something new.  There was "nothing new under the sun".  Read the book of Ecclesiastes (it's hidden between Proverbs and Song of Songs - in the Bible...).  It's short, and you'll get my drift. 

On the rare occasion that we would look beyond the road, you would catch a glimpse of someone on the narrow road.  It was usually only for a split second through a break in the tree's, but you could clearly see them.  The thing that struck me most about the narrow way travelers is that they didn't have a cart.  They couldn't.  There is no way you could push your cart, let alone carry anything and walk that path.  They didn't have anything!  They were just walking with this stupid grin on their face and waving for us to come join them.  I couldn't understand why anyone would choose to walk on that trail when there was a perfectly good road right next to them.  I also had no clue how they survived without their "stuff".  Anyway, every once in a while you would see someone leave the road.  They talked about how they were fed up with this wide road, they just couldn't take it anymore and that anything would be better than this, blah, blah, blah. Then they would dump their cart, grab what they could carry, and head for the ditch.  All the while looking back at their cart, and all the stuff they were leaving behind.  Most never made it even close to the other side of the ditch.  They would turn around and run back to their cart, to their stuff, and then feel foolish for even thinking they wanted to do it.  But, every once in a while, someone would make it through.  You watched them and thought, they're going to turn around any minute, they kept looking back at their "stuff" the whole way, but for some reason they kept going dropped all their "stuff" at the last minute and vanished into the tree's.  One thing I noticed about the ones who made it to the tree's; they rarely, if ever came back.  It's not like they couldn't, you could easily cross the ditch both ways, but they never did.  I wondered why.

Well, one day everything changed.  The wide road let me down for the last time.  I was done.  I let go of my cart, grabbed what I could carry and headed for the ditch.  I didn't even make it to the bottom before I wanted to go back.  I needed my stuff, and I was sure I wasn't  going to find anything in the woods...  I'll be honest with you.  This wasn't my first run for the tree's.  I'd done it before, and sadly turned into one of those poor souls who ran back to their cart at the last minute, feeling like an idiot for even trying, again.  For some reason, this time was different.  I was determined to make it across.  I soon found that even the stuff I was carrying with me became way to heavy, and I knew I either had to turn back or drop it if I was going to make it.

So I dropped everything and ran through, past the tree's and on to the narrow road.  I'd love to tell you once I was on the new road, everything was great, but it wasn't.  When I first got there I thought to myself, "there is nothing here!".  How was I going to survive?  I wanted to go back.  I kept trying to remind myself why I left in the first place, and that seemed to help because I just started walking.  It was hard.  I could only see a few steps in front of me at a time, and I had no idea what was going to come next.  Just when I thought I couldn't make it another step, I turned a corner and there in front of me, was exactly what I needed.  So I kept walking.  The narrow way isn't that scary to me anymore.  I have found it to be beautiful.  I have found wonderful friends to travel with and support me.  I have found that life doesn't have to be as it was on the wide road.  On the narrow way you take life as it comes at you, and you get what you need along the way.    This doesn't mean I'm perfect, or have figured it all out.  I struggle with my own personal sin and "stuff" on a daily basis.  What I have learned though is that as I pick stuff up along the path, I put it down much sooner.  I remember I don't need it, or the burden of carrying it, because God will faithfully meet my needs all along the way if I only trust in Him. 

Jesus says "Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."  Luke 17:33.  As I have been on this journey I have come to realize that we as humans, even as Christians, carry allot of "stuff".  That "stuff" is what separates us from a life in Christ, and prevents us from fully entering the Kingdom, both in this life, and the life to come.  There is the obvious "stuff" we know we shouldn't be carrying at all (deliberate sin and disobedience), but there is also stuff we carry in which we rely on in order to survive this worldly life.  Anything that I carry with me and run to or rely on other than Jesus Christ (fear, anger, jealousy, worry, etc.), weighs me down and prevents me from realizing the Kingdom right here and right now.  I have found the key to finding Christ, and experiencing intimacy with him on a deeper level has been to stop running back to my "stuff", and learning to let him provide what I truly need, not just what I think I need.  I have found him to be faithful in providing exactly what I need, exactly when I need it.  With me, I have found that God wants me to take the first step in faith, and once I do, he is there to fulfill and sustain me, one box of "stuff" at a time.

I know it's not even close to being this simple.  It never is.  Perhaps though, this will get you thinking of the "stuff" you are carrying, and what Christ is asking you to put down for your own sake.  Ask Jesus to show you what you are carrying.  Don't stress about putting it all down at once.  Faith builds through experience.  Let God come through for you in one area of your life, and you will start to learn and trust that he will come through for you in all areas of your life.  God loves to come through for us.  I challenge you to lay that one thing down and wrestle with the consequences of obedience before your loving Father, no matter how long it takes.  For me it was reading his word, desperate prayer and authentic worship.  For you it may be something else, but don't let it be someone else.  Learn to seek God on his terms, not yours (or someone elses).  It has to be personal.  He knows what you are carrying, and what it means to you.  Be honest in your pleas for help and seek his guidance and support.  I promise, if you will only fight through it you will find him on the other side with open arms and a new level of personal intimacy with your Creator that you never had before.  Be persistent.  His mercies are new every morning...

"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.  For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened."  Matthew 7:7-8 Amplified Bible
 
Travel light,
 
Chris
                            



                  

The Narrow Gate

"Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."  Matthew 7:13-14

I always thought I was on the narrow road.  I was after all a Christian.  That's what Jesus is talking about here right?  The Christians are the ones on the narrow road, and everyone else is on the path to destruction.  I have Christian parents.  I grew up in a Christian home.  I went to a Christian church.  I went to Bible camp.  I worked at bible camp.  I prayed to God every time something went bad in my life.  Sometimes I listened to Christian music (if I was in the mood).  God crossed my mind every time I was doing something I knew I shouldn't be doing.  I put money in the offering when I happened to have some in my pockets as the plate went by.  I was on the narrow road.  I remember thinking, this is easy.  This road isn't narrow at all, it's actually quite wide and easy to travel.  There is plenty of room for me and all the things and all the people I need to have a safe, happy and comfortable life.  Throughout it all though, I knew deep down, something was missing.  There had to be more to it all than this.   

I carried the guilt of my sin and shortcomings so long they became a part of me.  I thought, this must be the burden of walking the narrow way.  I'm suffering for Jesus.  After all, I'm just a sinner saved by grace, right?  I kept telling myself this. I was lying to myself.  If you haven't figured it out yet, let me spell it out.  I was on the wrong road, and deep down inside I knew it.  All of us who were there, or are still there, know it.  

Here is what I believe the Creator of the universe thinks of us.  Those of us who are riding the fence of obedience and faithfulness: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  Revelation 3:15-16 

I don't know about you, but that is not the impression I want to leave with my Lord and Savior.  There are many things we can debate in the Christian life, but sooner or later we all need to reckon with this question.  Which road am I on?  

As for me, I'm tired of being on the fence.  I am exhausted from trying to get this world to come though for me.  It won't.  You know it, and I know it...  We need something else.  Someone else.  That's pretty much what I'm about these days.  Take a good look at the road you are on.  Is there plenty of room?  Can you carry all of your fears, addictions and idols while still making good time?  Does it seem like "many" are on the road you are traveling?  If any of this is ringing true for you, I invite you to come along with me.  I'll post what I learn and see on my way, and God willing, maybe it will help you along your journey as well, if only to know someone else is traveling with you.  As I was thinking about this narrow road that leads to the narrow gate, these words of Paul came to mind:

"Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers (*and Sisters), I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Phillipians 3:12-14

See you on the road,

Chris

*added by me