The Narrow Road Traveler

- Pr. Thomas Thankachan

Jesus spoke of a man in one of His parables, who had taken a mile trip from

Jerusalem to Jericho, probably unarmed and without any company. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho also known as the “Way of Blood” was notorious for its danger and difficulty owing to the blood which is often there often by the robbers.  This man’s journey also did not end well either. The parable goes on to explain how this lone traveler was not only attacked on the way by the robbers and robbed his belongings, but also was wounded and left to die. The Good Samaritan, who by a

chance came up that way on his donkey, took pity on this helpless

dying man, and did what was most needed to restore him back to

life. 

My dear friend, the Christian journey is not a cakewalk. It is a journey

from a state of being dead in our trespasses and sins to the

abundance of life in Christ Jesus. Our eternal destination, which was

hellfire along with Satan has been changed to Heaven along with

Christ. The real journey to the kingdom of our Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ starts, but it is when we take the decision to accept the one and only offer to change our course by accepting the vicarious death of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Many are of the view that once Jesus Christ is accepted as our personal savior, everything ends. It is true, that, everything is over, and this is what is required to start this journey. The qualifications required to enroll into this program of ‘destination change’, has been accepted! A whole life-time remaining is to be used in

accordance with the Holy Manual (Bible), as the final decision will be taken on basis of Holy Manual, by the Father our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Here, what I mean by the word ‘journey’ refers to the life that needs to be spent on the basis of the ‘decision’ that has been taken. But this road is narrow and tough, unlike the road which is easy and comfortable for the people who have not made this decision yet. This narrow road is infested with snares, ambushed by petty robbers and you can even

hear the roaring of lions, and oftentimes see them face to face. Many times, there is darkness, and many travelers have often complained of dizziness, sickness, losing sight of their destination. Many pays a heavy price by sacrificing their entire belongings, and sometimes even their lives. Many had turned back and decided to take the other comfortable wide road instead.

Dear friend, by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you have opted for a change in your eternal destination from hellfire to heaven and its eternal bliss. But the moment you take this valuable decision, you also agree to move out of the highway to hell, and to start following the narrow way, which is Jesus Christ. The Manual referred above is the Holy Bible. According to the book of Romans chapter 8, every person living is under a law, irrespective of whether he is on the highway or the narrow way. The people who are on the highways are under the law of sin and death, while the people who have changed their destination by moving on to the narrow road, are under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Bible promises the companionship of the Holy Spirit, one of the Holy Trinity, to be inside of the narrow-road travelers, to guide, to strengthen and to encourage them constantly till they reach their destination. The Holy Spirit Himself is the sovereign guarantee, that the traveler will be accepted at the gates of eternal kingdom - Ephesians 1:13, John 16:13.

Just like in the parable which Jesus spoke of the traveler mentioned in the beginning, this road too is very dangerous. There is lot of snares, robbers hiding behind bushes at every turn, pestilences, darkness, plagues, and everything that could possibly bring shivers down to one’s spine can be found on this road. Many who had undertaken this journey, never made it to the end. Many took the decision to return back to the highway. Hence, this road is not so popular, but the rewards awaiting the winners are in-comparable and

celestial.

Now, let me encourage my fellow travelers who are on this narrow road, as I too am one. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw of everything that hinders and the sin so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

 2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2. (NIV)

I’ve noticed the small letters often comes printed on Indian Railway Tickets – ‘less luggage, more comfort’. The same applies to our Christian Journey. To make it enjoyable to the maximum, Jesus wants us to lay aside

every weight and sin that you were carrying around during our journey on the highway. Bringing the same to this narrow road can ensnare us, and the progress will be minimal. It also can risk us being prey to the attacks from devil, from which we may never recover. Let me urge you to make sure that those sins that have been washed away by the holy blood of Jesus, and those weights that has already been lightened up on His cross, are not carried by us on this narrow road.

We need to understand that we are in a race. No time for chit-chatting and getting involved in things that is not contributory to our journey. There can be lot of billboards on this way, displaying the various opportunities and offering fat discounts on various programs to allure us from reaching our destination. They are being kept there by our adversary, the devil, to allure the travelers from taking the journey seriously and slowly pushing them to re-think their decision, so that he can have them on the highway again. Hence, the author of the book of Hebrews warns us to take this journey seriously and to ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus’. All through the journey, our focus should be on Jesus Christ alone. His words are there in our Manual, and we ought to read them, believe and focus on them. They are true and even if the ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’(Luke 21:33). He is the ‘the author and finisher

of our faith’.

 God bless you all.