Are You On The Narrow Road?

Ezekiel 5:1-3 - "Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.  When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair with fire inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.  But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.

 

God’s next directive to Ezekiel was another object lesson.  He was to shave all the hair off of his head and face and divide it into 3 equal parts…saving just a bit back to sew into his robe.  While all the people watched… one third of the hair was burned….one third was struck with a sword …and the last third was scattered around the city.

 

Shaving the hair of a man’s head was a sign of humility…repentance…even mourning. It was symbolic of the one thing the Israelites and people of Judah would not do.  Even this …the worst judgment yet from God…could have been prevented if they had just turned from the idol worship and sin in their lives and come back to worship God.  Only a few would be left as a remnant.

 

It is no different now.  Matthew 7:14 says…. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” We could see the narrow road clearly if we opened our eyes to the many object lessons God sends us each day…but we miss them.  Perhaps we are going in the wrong direction and never see it at all.  Perhaps we are going too fast.  Perhaps we saw it…but it looked too difficult for us to travel and we decided to wait on an easier one.

 

I admit that I have missed many lessons along the way…for all three reasons at different times.  Perhaps if I try to focus a little more on God than myself….slow down…and ask him for new strength ….instead of shrink away in fatigue… I won’t miss the road…or be afraid of it when he shows it to me.

 

Jesus found his narrow road.  He did ask for it to be taken from him once…but when he lifted off his knees from that prayer…he realized that his father would give him the strength he needed to walk it completely. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that your way is not the world’s way.  The narrow gate that leads to life is not always easy to walk….but you have all I need to walk it.  Forgive me for the times that I have missed the gate.  Help me to focus more on you…listen more carefully for your directions….and ask you for the strength to do it if you say no to another route. Amen.