This week, I’ve been writing the Scripture Writing Schedule on “Roads/Streets.” Now you might think that that is a very strange topic, but I found it fascinating to study about different things that happened “on the way.” The memory verse was Matthew 7:14, “Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it.” Strait is not a misspelled! Strait and straight are homophones – they sound the same, but they have different meanings. Straight means “without curve or bend,” while strait means “difficult, narrow, cramped.” The reason that few will find that narrow way is because it’s hard! At times, it’s not comfortable. God never promised that it would be easy – He just said that it would be worth it!
There are multiple accounts of events happening on the road to Jericho. Luke tells us of a certain blind man who sat by the wayside begging (Luke 18:35). This was a road of hope for him. In the parable of the “Good Samaritan,” the road represented opportunities. Sadly, for the priest and the Levite, who passed by on the other side – it was a road of missed opportunities (Luke 10). In Acts 8, the road to Gaza became the road of salvation for the Ethiopian eunuch when after hearing Christ preached, asked, “Here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? (Acts 8:36). Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus. This “road of revelation” led to “a street called Straight, where Ananias found a penitent Saul, praying (Acts 9:11). Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by a great multitude spreading their garment and cutting down branches to spread in the way (Matthew 21:8). What a road of triumph this was! Only a week later, He was led out of the city on the road of shame and derision (Mark 15:29).
We are all on the road of life. James tells us, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). May you find the “strait way.” Simply blessed, Courtney