“Life is difficult.” That is the way M. Scott Peck begins his very helpful book The Road Less Traveled.1 Most people do not see this truth. Most people believe that life should be easy. The road most traveled is the road of moaning and grumbling about life’s difficulties. The road less traveled is the road of accepting life’s difficulties and meeting them head-on. What Peck says about life in general is even more true about life with Jesus Christ. Discipleship is difficult. Following Jesus Christ is costly. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus made it very clear that living with him meant walking a road less traveled. “Enter through the narrow gate,” he said, “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). Jesus promises to give anyone who will follow him abundant life (John 10:10), but he makes it very clear from the beginning that to follow him is difficult and costly. He calls us to follow him on the road less traveled. Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ, Expanded edition. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Connect, 2007), 27. 21 Laws of Discipleship -- the book -- |
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