Which way are you going? (part 1)

According to a science website, the average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. Some decisions are small, some are big. Some decisions are insignificant, some are important. Some decisions are life changing, for you and others.

Every single human being is faced with the same decision that will determine their destiny.

Picture this.

You’re walking down a road when suddenly you have a choice: do you go right or left? You see a sign to the left: “Enter for a good time! Do what you want, when you want it!” The sign to the right reads: “You can not do this journey alone. You will need help from others, but most importantly, you will need to trust in the One Who will guide you on this journey.”

There is a lively man to the left persuading you to go down his road. He has a lot to offer: money, a fun time, lots of friends, no rules. There is a passionate man to the right. He’s holding a book in his hand, but you’ve never heard of it before. He looks you in the eyes and tells you that there is a man, Jesus, who loves you more than you can comprehend. Jesus died for your sins and wants to set you free from those sins. If you trust in Jesus, you will take the right road and will one day have eternal life with Him forever.

You look to the left. You can hear people laughing.  You can see a lot of people down the way who seem to be enjoying their journey. The road is wide, beautiful. It is bright and well lit. The road has just been paved. It looks like an easy journey.

You look to the right. It’s a narrow road. It seems quiet and after looking to the left, the right road seems depressing. The road has holes, cracks in it. You don’t hear any laughter down the right road. You can hear people mumbling something, but you can’t make out the words. It is dark.

As you stand there, in between the two roads, you’re not thinking about where the roads lead. You are focused on what you see right in front of you. You consider the two journeys before your eyes. You think about what each has to offer. You ask yourself: “Do I want this bright, beautiful road or do I want the dark and narrow road?” You weigh the options. And in that moment, you make the most important decision of your life, and choose the left road.

I mean, you can see where you’re going. It seems joyful. It’s spacious, beautiful and the road is going to be easier to travel than the right road.

As you embark on this journey, you meet a lot of people. You soon come to learn that all that laughter you heard before, was not real joy. Those laughs were only based on the circumstances those people were in. You find that the beautiful sites took something from you. You lost your innocence. You found yourself doing things that were wrong. You were not happy. And one day, you find yourself wondering about that other road. You wonder what it was like over there. You wonder if it’s too late to turn back and travel the right road.

But you never turned back to give that narrow road a chance. You kept going down the left road.

One day, your journey is over. You have come to your final destination. You look on that destination with great anticipation. You have had a hard journey and you are ready for some relief. But you soon come to find out that the destination is actually worse than the journey. You have reached a place where you will be miserable for all of eternity. Those laughs are now cries for help. The sunshine is gone. You are stuck in this place FOREVER. No turning back now.

But just before you enter your destination, you see a man exit from the narrow road. He is smiling. He is almost running to his destination. You stop him. You ask him, “Sir! You just came from that dark and narrow road?” When he shakes his head, you ask him another question: “But sir, I saw that road at the beginning. It was dark, narrow and seemed like a hard journey.”

“Oh! It was not an easy journey by any means, my friend. It was very hard, but there were some very rewarding moments.”

“Sir, are you smiling because the journey is over?” you ask.

The man answers with a big grin on his face, “Yes, but I’m smiling more because I have finally reached my destination.”

Seeing the confusion on your face, the man takes the time to sit down with you and explain.

“You saw the beginning of the road? It was dark, narrow. The road was rough. You probably heard people mumbling things? Am I right?”

You shake your head yes.

“The road was dark. But the Lord gave us light for the next step. We saw just what we needed at that time. It was narrow, but the Lord guided our steps. We helped each other stay on the road. Those mumblings you heard were prayers. We were praying for each other. We were praying for those on the left road, that they would turn back and come down the right road. We can end the journey with a smile on our face because we trusted God to get us to the end, and He DID! And now, our destination will give us eternal rest. We get to be with the One Who helped us every single step of the way.”

As you watch the man leap from his seat and enter his destination, you sit there with your head hung low. You went back to that first day in your mind. You replayed the whole scenario. You now wished you had listened to that passionate man at the right road. You wished you had turned back and taken the right road. But now, it’s too late. You have made your decision and you have to deal with the consequences of that decision.

You slowly rise. You look back to those exiting from the narrow road. You envy their joy. You envy their destination. You envy their peace. You envy their freedom.

You turn to face the inevitable. Others have entered ahead of you. You see the sadness in their eyes. As you step into your destination, you wish that you had turned back when you had the chance.