Direction Determines Destination

We are in a series called Kingdom Wisdom, looking at the wisdom Jesus gives us for living in the Kingdom of God. Last week we talked about the Golden Rule and Jesus’ invitation to carry the goodness we have received from our Father into the lives of others.

This week, Jesus places two ways before us and invites us to choose the way that leads to life.

The picture of two ways runs throughout Scripture. In the Garden of Eden, we find the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Psalm 1 describes one way that leads away from God and another that produces a life like a tree planted beside streams of water. In Deuteronomy, God places life and death before His people and says, “Now choose life.”

The pictures change. Trees. Roads. Gates. But the question underneath them remains remarkably similar: Where will we look for life?

Jesus says there is a road that leads to life. But He also warns us about another road. The broad road is easy to enter because it doesn’t require much thought. We can simply move with the current.

And there are currents around us all the time. The current of culture, ambition, comparison, consumerism, anger, self-protection, and the constant invitation to define life for ourselves.

If you’ve ever been in water with a strong current, you know you don’t have to work very hard to go where the current is going. You simply float. But if you want to go in another direction, you have to become intentional.

Jesus invites us not simply to drift, but to follow Him.

Most of the decisions that determine the direction of our lives don’t seem enormous when we make them. What will I give my attention to? How will I respond when I’m hurt? What will I do when I’m afraid? Whose approval matters most? Will I forgive? Will I trust? Will I seek first the Kingdom?

Each decision may feel small. But small decisions become direction. Direction becomes a road. And roads lead somewhere.

Maybe the question for us this week is simply: What road am I walking?

Where am I following Jesus? Where am I simply moving with the crowd? Where am I trusting the Father? Where am I still trying to control everything?

Join Us This Weekend

We’ll look at Jesus’ invitation to enter the narrow gate and discover why the way of Jesus is ultimately the way that leads to life. Join us in person or online.