Beware the Broad Path

I seldom go to Starbucks, but here I sit sipping a tall chai tea latte—compliments of a nephew who gave me a gift card for Christmas.

A song plays in the background: “I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger…”
My mind drifts back to a time when I wasn’t just following the broad path—I was traveling in the wrong direction altogether.

I’d like to say that was simply a function of youth, but the truth is, I maintained that lifestyle well into my early forties. Back then, the probability of me wearing a Jesus sweatshirt was about the same as one of these baristas wearing a MAGA cap and a Trump t-shirt.

And while that broad path—traveling away from Jesus—did lead to professional success as a university professor, it also piled on a burden of sin that wasn’t easily left behind. In fact, without Divine Intervention, it would have been impossible.

That’s how far I was from Jesus and His righteousness.

But because of the blood He shed on the cross, I am washed clean.

I can now look back on the seductive broad path and say, “I wish I knew what I know now…”—because the broad path leads to destruction.

Yet for those who turn from the broad path to the narrow path—regardless of age or stage of life—they will discover a peace that surpasses all understanding, just as Scripture promises.

The thing is, for a long time, the broad path was all I knew. It felt normal.

But the further one walks in obedience down the narrow path, the easier it becomes to recognize when we begin to stray. Course corrections come more quickly. Realignment with God becomes more natural. We hear the Holy Spirit more clearly saying, “Beware the broad path ahead.”

By the way, that chai tea latte was excellent.

Ready for the journey ahead.

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“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.” Matthew 7:13–14 (NKJV)

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (NKJV)