Running The Race To WinSample

Have you ever found yourself wandering from the path God has laid out for you? We start out glued to the narrow road, but temptations and trials along the way shift our direction away from God. Despite failures, God always gives us a way to step back onto the narrow path.

Let’s take a look at someone very close to Jesus who let his feet begin to slip. Peter had traveled with Jesus for three years. Though it was a difficult road at times, following Jesus also had its perks. You see, Jesus’ followers were under the impression that He was going to be their king—that He was going to restore the nation of Israel to freedom. On the night of His arrest, all those hopes went away. As soon as the perks were gone and the difficulties showed up, Peter ran away too.

On the morning of the resurrection, the report came that Jesus had risen. While some of the disciples refused to believe the testimony about Jesus, Peter got up and ran to the tomb.

Peter’s feet had slipped. In a sense, he had strayed from the narrow path. But the report about Jesus rising sent him running as fast as he could to see if it was true. I believe that he was starting to run back onto the narrow path—back into God’s plan for his life. He was not running because he thought all the extra incentives had come back. He was not running because the chance of being arrested had left. He was running because he thought Jesus had come back.

When Jesus tells us to walk through the small gate, He is referring to Himself. When He says to walk the narrow path, He means for us to walk the path He is walking. He wants us to walk beside Him. To continue on the narrow path, we must be abiding in Christ and allowing Him to live in us. Part of our journey as believers is to grow daily in our relationship with our Savior. 

Our relationship with Jesus should be motivated by the love He has shown us. He gave us life by being a sacrifice for us when we deserved death. I do not want to miss out on being friends with someone who willingly did that for me. Love is the greatest incentive, and we know that God’s love for us never ends. Life’s incentives leave, and fortune is lost. The amazing thing about walking with Jesus is that He will never leave us and He never gets lost.