Don’t make the straight way crooked by the way you live your life!

“He led them straight to safety. to a city where they could live.”

Psalm 107:7 NLT

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,

and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14 NLT

 It’s not like the wide entrance to Disneyland, even seen from blocks away. The Bible says that the gate leading to eternal life is relatively small and the road that you must travel is nothing like the Yellow Brick Road.

In other words, if you get distracted you are apt to miss it.

John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah by preparing the way for the Lord. (Luke 3:4) He felt responsible for making a ‘straight path’ for the Lord. That’s why his ministry was so cutting and precise. There were no frills to his message. He wasn’t going for numbers but for soul stirring and direction setting.

The Apostle Paul was another straight shooter. He wasn’t looking for validation of his ministry. Nor was he concerned if he offended anyone! When bothered by Elymas the sorcerer he said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?” Acts 13:10 NASB

Here’s my concern from these passages. I am afraid that we allow our compromises and hollow testimonies to lead sinners away from the straight and narrow entrance into God’s Kingdom. We often expect others to do things we don’t do – or not do things we expect them to be doing. It’s called hypocrisy and it plays havoc with evangelism.

Our testimonies are useless unless accompanied by a parallel in our beliefs and actions!

It really is time to walk our talk – to say things that Jesus said, with no apology (but with love, patience and kindness.) We need to quit doing things that the Bible says are wrong. We must stop making excuses for sloppy spirituality.

There is increasing pressure on all of us to bend to fit in with the warp of the world around us. But God is calling us to stand straight, with clear conscience and be able to look eye to eye with anyone and proclaim that heaven and God’s favor are worth taking the time and effort to search for that small gate.