Vaguely Better

It's a little sad that I am so impressed by Jesus' ability to do God's will. I would love it if I saw him acting obediently to God's will, and thought, "Yup, that's just how we do it." Sadly, so often the narrow road doesn't seem to satisfy. What is is about the broad road that is appealing?

"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

There should be nothing outside the road to life that is desired. Trusting the words of Jesus and the promises of God, we should rest in his protection--on his path. But I imagine that somewhere in our heads we all have a mental picture of what life might be like on the wide road.

Our imagination might be as simple as the scene in The Hobbit, when their path through the forest of Mirkwood becomes cold and hungry and dreary. They see a bit of light, showing them warmth and smelling of food, and most of all hinting at joy, and they abandon the warnings and promises of Gandalf. They leave the path, only to spend the next chapters at death and danger's doorstep.

We might imagine people off the narrow road living lives of glamour, and comfort. We might imagine that they have a simpler existence, ignoring the future consequences of their actions and indulging in a selfish joyfest. The Devil may hold a carrot in the darkness (or any prohibited pleasure), for us to long after.

We want to know what it would be like if we just gave up on seeking God's will, and spent our time following our own desires. But the Truth speaks to us, reminding us of the times we have chased our own happiness, leaving our Savior's side, and finding ourselves delighting briefly in ignorance, until we landed in a place more isolated and complicated than we could get out of on our own.

Solomon speaks clearly about the things men do. He finds them meaningless, as any ecclesiastic reader would suspect. But how essential it is that we recognize that the ways that we might create our own pleasure in this world are merely a chasing after the wind.

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. -Ecclesiastes 1:12-15

It is us that are chasing after the wind if we think to try and take something from the wide road and sneak it or weave it into our lives on the narrow path. Solomon says, "What is twisted cannot be straightened." I say why would we chase after dimly lit mirages?

God lets us wander. He does not force us to stay. He wills us to stay. His Spirit empowers us to stay. But that sad truth is that time and time again we chase man-made futures and empty dreams we can create for ourselves, and we wander from the clear path to the place that is already being made ready for our eternal delight.

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