Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Only A Few Find It

Do you like poetry? I really had never liked poetry very much until the last few years and now I find it really kind of relaxing to read. I even try writing some occasionally but I don't think I'm really very good at it. But that's okay. There have been, and still are, some great poets out there already. Robert Frost is one I like...

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is the last few lines in the poem by Robert Frost called; Road Not Taken. Do you know it? It's about a traveler who comes to a fork in the road and has to decide which road he is going to chose to continue on in his journey. It's an important decision because he may not pass this way again. He thinks about it for awhile and decides to take..."the road less traveled by." That always reminds me of something else I have read...

Matthew 7:13-14
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Just like the fictitious traveler in the poem, we too have a choice to make. If we choose the wide gate...yes, life is fun for awhile. But eventually, partying gets old and we start looking for a way out. The bible talks about that in Hebrews 11:25..."enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin".  We travel that broad road for a long time and just when we think there is no hope for us, God gives us a second chance to enter in through the small gate. We look at that narrow road on the other side thinking...I can't stay on that path, I'll never be able to make it. But we know if we don't change paths...we may never pass this way again. So we take a chance...and by the grace of GOD...we are making it! This narrow road could also be called "the one less traveled by" because the bible says..."only a few find it."

This verse applies to all of us. It doesn't matter how long you were on the broad road. All that matters is that at some point...you have entered in through the small gate and you are traveling the narrow road...the road to true life.

Aren't you glad you are one of "the few"? Now think about this...

Many people we know are still on that "road to destruction". From experience, I know that it's really hard to get off of that road and leave it all behind. We need to do all we can to point people we know, and even people we don't know, in the direction of the small gate and the road to life.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chelle - great encouragement to reach out to others.
God bless
Tracy

Pam Williams said...

I love how you relate Frost's poem with Matthew 7! Perhaps Frost was thinking of Matthew 7 when he wrote The Road Not Taken.
I have several loved ones that I am praying will choose the narrow road.
Timely post for me.
Thank you!
Pam at www.2encourage.blogspot.com

Kristin Bridgman said...

I know the poem well!
And I too, am praying for loved ones to take the other path; the narrow one; the best one! :)

Desiray said...

I never was one for poetry but I can appreciate it....thanks for sharing today

~Neverforsaken~Lisa Dreamchild said...

I like how you compared Frost's 'Road Not Taken' to Mathew7:13 That is one of my favorite poems and one of my favorite scriptures :)