House of Hope Online

July 20, 2025

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Today’s word of the Lord is about life choices.  Choices we all must make from time to time.  Choices that become more difficult as time marches on, and evil continues to proliferate in our world.

As Christians, we must comply with the word of God because Jesus said if we love Him, we will keep His commands.  Therefore, our alternatives are fewer than they would be if we were unbelievers who lack a conviction to the keep the word.

Jesus said this in Matthew 7:

Matthew 7:

 13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.

 14 “For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

So, we live in a world with many, many others, and Jesus said: “…the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.” 

This means we all begin by walking on the wide road.  It has many others, and there is strength in numbers.  No one wants to be alone in this walk of life.  But Jesus is saying there will come a time when we must seek the narrow road; that is, the narrow way that leads to life.  This road has only a few on it.  Others will not be cheering us on, because Jesus said “…few are those who find it.”

Jesus said if we enter the wide gate, the way is broad, it leads to destruction, and many are those who enter it.  In essence He is saying our Christian walk will not be among the mainstream.  Look at the way the world is going and walk the other way.  Do not be mastered by mainstream opinion of right and wrong.  Let the word of God be your guide.

Finding Your Exit

When you travel by car, you prefer the interstate, which is wide, and you take it as far as you can go until you come upon your exit.  Once you exit, the road narrows, the speed limit decreases, and your “progress” decreases.  Driving is not as easy.  There are more turns, and you need to be aware of the other drivers around you.

In our Christian walk, it is the same.  We will reach a point where we must take the narrow road.  We must have a strength in our convictions to the word of God that others will not share, because they want to stay on the wide road.  They want to be accepted and praised by others.  They want to continue serving their fleshly nature and their need for the approval of man.

Finding the narrow road means no longer valuing the things you do on the wide road, where you try to fit in by not taking a stand on the word of God.  On the wide road, you must compromise your beliefs just to get along with others who do not share your convictions.  The Apostle Paul described this change in value that He experienced when He went from an expert on the Law to a follower of Christ and teacher of the Gospel.  He took a narrow road, and what he used to value, he now considers to be rubbish.

Philippians 3:

 3 for we are the [true] circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

 4 ¶ although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,

 9 ¶ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith,

 10 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 12 Not that I have already obtained [it], or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of [it] yet; but one thing [I do]: forgetting what [lies] behind and reaching forward to what [lies] ahead,

 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul says in verse 3 we must trade in our confidence in our own flesh in exchange for worshiping the Spirit of God and the glory of Jesus Christ.  Valuing our own ability is in direct opposition to worshipping our Lord and Savior in Spirit and in truth.  Paul admits he had confidence in his flesh.  He called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews, one who knew the Law better than even the Pharisees.  Paul was a learned man, who adhered to the Law.  But he became a persecutor of the Christian church, until he found His narrow road in Jesus.

After his conversion, verses 7 and 8 say the things he used to value, he now considered rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus.  Verse 9 says he no longer had a righteousness of his own derived from the Law, but instead his value, his identity, was found in Jesus, the Righteous One who comes from God.  Verse 10 describes the narrow road because Paul now wants the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings.  But finally, in verse 14, Paul presses on “…toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  He got off the wide road and took the narrow gate that leads to life with the few who find it.

Wide vs Narrow = Flesh vs Spirit

On the wide road, we serve the flesh.  We seek self-gratification, the praise of others, and self-esteem.  On the wide road, we look for an identity that can relate to others.  We try to excel for our own glory, not the Lord’s.

Nancy and I recently listened to a podcast titled “The Sage Steele Show,” which was recorded and posted on Spotify on Wednesday, July 16.  Sage Steele is a former ESPN anchor who separated from the network a few years ago due to her Christian convictions.  In this July 16 episode, Sage has a conversation with Samantha Ponder, who also was a prominent ESPN sports personality enjoying the popularity of a career in TV before she was fired by the network a year ago for expressing views that were forbidden by ESPN’s owner, the Disney Company.  I encourage you to listen to the podcast, during which Samantha describes how God stepped in after she was fired, and how He was faithful to her despite her lack of faith during the busy years of her TV career.  Sam also describes how her fleshly nature would search for and drink up the praise of others in the business and, of course, her TV viewers.

While it is unfortunate that corporate cultures often prohibit the expression of God’s word, Sam’s story is encouraging because it showed her the exit way from the wide road to the narrow gate, where she now home schools her children and is much happier that she ever was while pursuing what she thought was a dream job.

Sam Ponder had to crucify her flesh to take the narrow road.  As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:3 “for we are the [true] circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,”

On the narrow road, we must give glory to Jesus and put no confidence in our abilities.  Instead, we worship Him in Spirit and Truth, and we trust Him for next steps.  His plan for us is perfect, even if it does not appear so immediately in the natural realm.  Samantha Ponder was fired, but God was opening a door for her to spend more time with her children, and more time with Jesus.

Always a Choice

It would be nice if, once you chose the narrow gate, that would be the end of it.  But until Jesus comes, we occupy the planet, where Satan continues to prowl, and we will need to continue making the choice between the wide road which leads to destruction and the narrow road leading to life.  In a prior podcast, I spoke about my first professional job, how I loved it, and how I depended on it for my self-esteem and for my family’s provision.  I satisfied my flesh by being this orphan who made it in business and was able to get along well in the world.  And then my exit came.  I had to choose the narrow road.  I made an unpopular choice that even my friends in the church were nervous about.  But God was faithful to me, just as He was with Samantha Ponder, and just as He will be with your choices.

My point, in closing, is that we still need to make choices over our convictions regarding the word of God and the path we will take.  Often the easy way, the wide road, is to just go along with those who compromise the word, who accept variances to get along with others.  But true love is telling someone the truth of God’s word, not with a judgmental attitude, but in love.

Recently, I had a client who wanted me to do something that I was uncomfortable doing.  The client painted it as a way to help another person, but it involved a stretching of the truth.  I was torn by the decision.  While I wanted to serve the client (and thereby satisfy my fleshly nature by earning more fees), I knew it was a wide road leading to destruction.  I again chose the narrow gate, and I praise the Holy Spirit for the wisdom and guidance.

The choices are not always easy, not always obvious.  But we must pray that the Lord will show us the narrow road that leads to life.  Otherwise, we are like the dog that the scripture says returns to its own vomit.

2^nd Peter 2:

 20 For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.

 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, [returns] to wallowing in the mire.”

Avoid complacency.  Once you have escaped the wide road, the defilements of the world, by virtue of knowing Jesus, do not become entangled once again by the schemes of the devil and the unbelieving spirit that rules this world.  Verse 21 says it would be better to not have known righteousness, than to know it and turn away from it later.

Walking the narrow road requires us to crucify our flesh and to trust in the glory of Jesus.  It’s a choice, and it’s a recurring choice. Trust the plan of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who stands at the narrow gate.

Let us pray.    

Father God, thank You for teaching us about the narrow road.  Quicken us by the Holy Spirit to recognize the wide road leading to destruction.  Help us to trust Your plan, even when the future looks uncertain.  And help us to serve as effective witnesses by standing firm on Your word as we await Jesus’ return.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.