The Road Not Taken

SCRIPTURE: "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." Matthew 7:13

Robert Frost wrote a poem about reaching a fork in the road and standing there trying to decide which path to take. He wrote that “two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…” Sometimes the Christian Walk is similar. As believers, we get to a fork in the road and wonder which path should be taken. Knowing that we can only take one, it is at these moments in life, the believer should pray and trust the Lord to guide him. The believer should seek spiritual advice because the Bible tells us that left to our own devices we may choose poorly. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is
the way of death (Proverbs 14:12)."

At that fork in the road most people will do the same thing: look down each path, try to figure out how many people traveled each path and then try to determine which path is best just by looking. Frost wrote, “And being one traveler, long I stood and look down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and want wear. Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same…”

As believers considering one path over another because of how many others took that path could lead to problems. The Bible tells us that we should not follow the crowd but instead trust the Lord (Isaiah 8:11-13). However, sometimes we question, if the paths are equal why didn’t more people take the right path and boom, we find ourselves going left like everyone else. Consequently, when we trust the Lord, when we are in tune with His voice our steps are directed, and we not only take the path less traveled we are okay with taking that path. Frost wrote, “I shall be telling this with a sigh. Somewhere ages and ages hence. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

Imagine listening to the Lord and entering through the narrow gate instead of the wide gate. Many people cannot enter through the narrow gate together because it is narrow, but everybody can fit through the wide gate. As believers, we must set ourselves apart. In order to walk a worthy walk we will have to get from among them and separate ourselves (2 Corinthians 6:17). To walk a worthy walk we must not conform to the world but instead by transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). During this walk, there will be many forks in the road, many wide gates, and taking the road less traveled will make all the
difference.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, as we maneuver life, thank You for grace and mercy. Thank You for Your protection and provision for when we take the road traveled by many and for going through the wide gate. Thank You, Lord, for second chances and Your Word that instructs us to remove ourselves from people that aren’t like us. Thank You for loving us so much that You gave Your Son to save us. Thank you, Lord, for the confidence in You to proudly walk alone through the narrow gate. In Jesus' name, Amen.
By Sis. Pat Towns