Light of the World Today
The Road That Leads There and the One That Does Not Part 2
Key Scripture: Matthew 7:13–14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
There is something uncomfortable about these words of Jesus. We live in a world that has largely decided that all roads lead to the same place, that sincerity is enough, and that a good life will balance out whatever falls short. It is a comforting idea. It is also one that Jesus directly and lovingly refused to endorse.
He did not say the gate was locked. He said it was narrow. And there is a world of difference between the two. A locked gate offers no hope. A narrow gate is simply asking you to come through it the right way.
The Question Nobody Wants to Ask
Most people, if asked whether they expect to go to Heaven, will say yes. And most will give roughly the same reason: they are a decent person, they have not done anything terrible, and they believe in God in a general sort of way. This is one of the most widespread and most dangerous assumptions in the modern world.
Jesus told a story in Matthew 25 about ten young women waiting for a bridegroom. Five of them were prepared. Five were not. The ones who were not prepared did not miss the wedding because they were wicked people. They missed it because they were not ready. And the door was shut. Jesus told another story about a man who built a house on sand. It did not look any different from the house built on rock while the weather was fine. The difference only became visible in the storm.
The question is not whether you believe Heaven exists. The question is whether you are on the road that leads there.
What the Road Actually Looks Like
The narrow road is not a religion. It is a relationship. Jesus did not say "follow my teachings" as though Heaven were an exam you could pass with enough revision. He said "follow Me." He said you must be born again (John 3:3). He said unless a man is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5). These are not suggestions from a life coach. These are the words of the only person who has ever conquered death and returned to tell us what lies on the other side of it.
Paul writes in Romans 10:9 with striking simplicity: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." This is the narrow gate. Not narrow because it is exclusive in a harsh sense, but narrow because there is one door, one way, one name, and it is the name above all names.
The broad road, by contrast, asks nothing of you. It requires no surrender, no change of direction, no acknowledgment that you need saving. It is comfortable precisely because it flatters you. It tells you that you are fine as you are. But the destination of that road, spoken plainly by Jesus who loved people enough to tell the truth, is destruction.
A Witness Who Understood Both Roads
Howard Storm was a professor of art, a committed atheist, and a man who had no interest in God whatsoever. In 1985 he collapsed in Paris with a life-threatening perforation of the stomach. As he lay dying, he had an experience that turned his entire understanding of reality inside out. He describes leaving his body, being drawn into a place of absolute darkness, surrounded by presences that were hostile and terrifying. He was a man who had spent his life on the broad road and suddenly found himself at its destination.
In that darkness, something prompted him to cry out to Jesus, a name he had dismissed his entire adult life. What happened next, he says, he will never be able to fully explain. A light came. He was pulled out of that darkness. He encountered what he describes as a being of overwhelming love who restored him, spoke to him, and sent him back. Howard Storm returned from that experience a completely changed man. He left academia, trained for ministry, and spent the rest of his working life as a pastor. He wrote about what he saw in his book My Descent into Death.
His testimony matters not just because of what he saw in the light but because of what he encountered in the darkness. He is a witness to both roads, and he will tell anyone who will listen: the broad road is real, its destination is real, and the rescue that came to him was only possible because he cried out to the One who stands at the narrow gate.
The God Who Does Not Want Anyone to Miss It
Here is what must be said clearly, because it is the heart of everything. God is not standing at the gate hoping you fail. The entire story of Scripture is the story of a God who goes to extraordinary lengths to bring His people home.
He sent prophets. He sent judges. He sent kings. And then, when none of it was enough to bridge the gap between a holy God and a broken humanity, He sent His own Son. Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He came, as John 3:17 tells us, so that the world through Him might be saved. The cross is not a sign of God's anger towards you. It is the most extravagant rescue operation in history. It is God saying: I will pay the price Myself so that the road home is open.
Peter puts it this way in 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." God's patience is not indifference. It is love holding the door open.
But the door does not stay open indefinitely. Every life has an end. And Hebrews 9:27 reminds us with quiet gravity that it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement. The broad road does not announce the destination until you arrive. The narrow gate is the only turning point available to us in this life, and it is available right now.
Conclusion
You do not have to earn your way to Heaven. You cannot. But you do have to choose it. You have to choose the One who said He is the way. You have to turn from the broad road, not because God is harsh, but because He is holy and because you were made for something far better than where that road ends.
The testimonies of people like Don Piper and Colton Burpo, which we considered in Part One, show us the breathtaking reality of what Heaven is. Howard Storm's testimony shows us that the alternative is equally real, and that even in the darkest moment, the name of Jesus is the name that rescues.
If you have never made a deliberate, personal decision to follow Jesus, today is the day to do that. Not a vague sense of goodwill toward religion. A decision. A turning. A step through the narrow gate. And if you have already made that decision, let Part Two of this devotion be a reminder of why it was the most important decision you have ever made and why the people around you who have not yet made it deserve your prayers, your honesty, and your love.
Heaven is real. The road is open. The gate is narrow, but it is not locked.