TWO ROADS
Matthew 7:13-14

One of my favorite American poets is Robert Frost, and one of my favorite poems is his “Two Roads.”  As we begin our study of verses 13 and 14 of Matthew 7, I would like to share that poem with you, as I believe it has some significance for what Jesus is about to say.

         Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
         And sorry I could not travel both
         And be one traveler, long I stood
         And looked down one as far as I could
         To where it bent in the undergrowth.

         Then took the other, as just as fair,
         And having perhaps the better claim,
         Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
         Though as for that the passing there
         Had worn them really about the same.

         And both that morning equally lay
         In leaves no step had trodden black.
         Oh, I kept the first for another day!
         Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
         I doubted if I should ever come back.

         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.

Choices.  Everyday of every year we are called upon to make them.  Bishop Barclay wrote these words:  In every action of life man is confronted with a choice; and he can never evade the choice, because he can never stand still.  He must always take one way or the other.

Friends, was this not the command of Joshua in his final message to the people of Israel.  He admonished them to “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…” (Joshua 24:15).  Even the prophet Jeremiah reminded the people that God had laid before them two roads – one, the way of life, the other, the way of death.  They were to make a choice (Jeremiah 21:8)

Jesus is beginning to draw His sermon to a close.  The people were now being challenged to make a decision based upon what they had heard.  Jesus proceeds to lay before them the options.  Those options number exactly two.  One begins at a narrow gate, while the other begins at a wide gate.  In our next study, we shall approach each of these gates and discover exactly where the pathways from them lead.

Father, I am so thankful that You have given us the privilege of making choices in our lives.  Thank You for not making us like robots.  But, as we choose, give us wisdom to make the right choices, especially when it comes to serving You.  At times we do not know exactly what to choose or what to do, so we ask for Your leading in our decision making process.  For this we will give You thanks in Christ’s name.  Amen.

 

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