Anyone who has been involved in “religion” at all has probably heard the phrase, “We are all at different places on this path.”
I’ve heard this or similar phrases for years.
Is it true?
Or is it just a way for men to make excuses for their lack of commitment to the path?
I Googled this concept and found many articles talking about how we are all in different places on this religious journey.
Case closed, right?
Nope, not so fast.
What does scripture have to say about it?
We’ve all heard of this direct quote of Messiah regarding the path…
Matthew 7:13-14
13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Does Messiah say we are all on the right path, just in different places?
Nope.
He says the path to life is difficult, and few will find it.
Is it acceptable for men to disregard these words of Yeshua?
Is it acceptable for men to ignore this warning, and go about their lives without concern?
Is it acceptable for men to decide these words are about someone else, and not themselves?
Not if we are wise men.
For wise men will listen to their shepherd.
They will know His voice.
They will do the things He says.
I, for one, take the warnings of Messiah very seriously.
I encourage you to do the same.
Psalm 19:8 regarding the wise:
The Torah of Yehova is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of Yehova is trustworthy, making the simple wise.
If it is important to be on this narrow path, how do we know when we are on the path, or off the path?
Please consider these verses:
Psalm 119:105-112
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and confirmed
to observe Your righteous rulings.
107 I am severely afflicted.
Keep me alive, Yehova, according to Your word.
108 Please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, Yehova,
and teach me Your rulings.
109 My soul is continually in danger,
yet I have not forgotten Your Torah.
110 The wicked have set a snare for me,
yet I did not stray from Your precepts.
111 Your testimonies I have as a heritage
forever, for they are my heart’s joy.
112 I turned my heart to do Your decrees,
forever, to the very end.
Psalm 119:33-35
33 Teach me the way of Your decrees, Yehova,
and I will follow them to the end.
34 Give me understanding,
that I may keep Your Torah
and observe it with all my heart.
35 Help me walk in the path of Your commandments—
for I delight in it.
Psalm 24:4-5
Show me Your ways, Yehova.
Teach me Your paths.
5 Guide me in Your truth, and teach me,
for You are Yehova, my salvation,
for You I wait all day.
Proverbs 2:1-15
2 My son, if you accept my words
and treasure my commandments within you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom,
inclining your heart to discernment,
3 yes, if you call out for insight,
lifting up your voice for discernment,
4 if you seek her as silver
and search for her as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will know the fear of Yehova
and discover the knowledge of God.
6 For Yehova gives wisdom.
Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.
8 He guards the paths of justice,
and protects the way of His saints.
9 Then you will discern what is right
and just and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will watch over you
—discernment will guard you—
12 to deliver you from the way of evil,
from those speaking perverse things,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing wrong
and delight in the perversity of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and are devious in their ways—
Proverbs 3:1-6
My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments.
2 For length of days and years of life,
and peace they will add to you.
3 Let kindness and truth never leave you—
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will gain favor and a good name
in the eyes of Yehova and man.
5 Trust in Yehova with all your heart,
lean not on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 6:20-23
20 My son, keep your father’s commands,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart continually—
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you.
When you lie down, they will watch over you,
and when you wake up, they will speak to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp, Torah a light,
and corrective discipline the way of life,
Proverbs 12:28
28 In the path of righteousness is life—
it is a path to immortality.
Isaiah 2:2-3
It will come to pass in the last days
that the mountain of Yehova’s House
will stand firm as head of the mountains
and will be exalted above the hills.
So all nations will flow to it.
3 Then many peoples will go and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yehova,
to the House of the God of Jacob!
Then He will teach us His ways,
and we will walk in His paths.”
For Torah will go forth from Zion
and the word of Yehova from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 42:16
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.
The foundation of knowledge of the desirable path is recorded for us in scripture. If we read and believe these things, we’ll know how to find the right path. We’ll know if we are on the path, or off the path.
“But my pastor says the Torah and the law are done away with.”
“My church teaches that the Old Testament Law no longer applies.”
The Word of Yehova defines His Torah instructions, The Law, as the path we should follow. Will you believe your pastor, or will you believe the Word of God?
Before moving on, let’s take a closer look at this narrow gate that Messiah spoke of…
14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
What is this gate? How do we find this narrow gate?
John 10:7
7 So Yeshua said again, “Amen, amen I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”
The gate is Messiah. We enter through Him.
John 14:6
6 Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
“OK, So my church and my pastor do have it right, then… All we have to do is believe in Jesus, and we get to enter the narrow gate?”
John 10:14
14 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me…”
According to John 10, we need to KNOW our Messiah. We need to KNOW not just who He is, but we need to KNOW His character. We need to know the things He says.
John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
And when we know Him, and when we know the things He says, we follow Him. We do the things He says.
Do we follow Him by simply knowing about Him?
Do we follow Him by simply believing He exists?
James 2:18-20
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder! 20 But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead?
No, it is not enough to simply believe in Him.
Even the demons believe, and shudder.
We must have works to go along with our faith.
What works?
We must follow the instructions given to us in the Torah.
Those works.
Just as the foundation of this knowledge is given to us in the scriptures I quoted above.
“But my pastor says we don’t do those things anymore.”
Again, consider this:
“My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me.”
Do you know His voice?
Are you His sheep?
Do you hear the things He says?
Do you do the things He says?
Do you follow Him?
Or do you simply believe in Him, just like the demons?
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
“It sure would be easy if scripture would come right out and tell us if we know Him or not.”
Your wish has been granted:
The Test of Knowing Yehova
1John 2:3-6
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
If you know Him, you will walk just as He walked [in accordance with Torah]. If you know Him, you will keep the commandments, otherwise, you are a liar [and you don’t really know Him].
So…
This narrow path.
Is there such a thing as “sort-of” being on the path?
Can we all be on the same path, but in different places?
No, I don’t think so.
I think there is one narrow path.
We are either on it, or we are not on it.
There is no such thing as one person REALLY being on it, and another person SORT OF being on it.
And by the way, this post is not about legalism.
This post is not about mindlessly following a bunch of rules so that we can say we are on the path.
It is about having a heart for the things of Yehova.
It is about showing Yeshua Messiah that we love Him, by keeping His commands.
Just as He instructed us to do.
It is about having a heart for the words and the ways of the Father.
Please stop making excuses for your friends (or for yourself) who do not have a heart for the ways of the Father, by saying they are on a different part of the path.
Pray for them to submit to the Father, and to be firmly on the path.
Don’t make excuses for them for playing near the path, just flirting with the path, one foot on, one foot off…
Don’t get me wrong…
It is ok to be learning.
It is not ok to learn and disregard, in my humble opinion.
If someone is learning to walk on the narrow path, but do not yet know about tzitzits, they will eventually learn.
I do not believe it is ok to have learned about tzitzits, and choose not to wear them. This is simple rebellion against the ways of the Father.
Even worse, I think it is awful for people to wear tzitzits at Torah fellowships, but not wear them the rest of the week. Are they wearing them to please men? Or do they wear them because Yehova said to? If they have a heart for the ways of Yehova, they would wear them all the time, or so it would seem.
It is great to honor the Sabbath.
It is not great to have learned about the importance of the Sabbath, but to ignore it if a great movie comes out. Or to ignore it if you got tickets to the game. Or to ignore it if you really want to go out to eat…
Yehova says the Sabbath is a sign between Him and His people.
Who wouldn’t want that sign?
Who wouldn’t want to be His people?
Yehova says that those who profane the Sabbath will surely die.
Those who violate the Sabbath will be cut off from the people.
Why would anyone who loves the ways of the Father reject His ways sometimes, especially knowing the consequences described in scripture?
What if someone has learned the truth about the moedim, the appointed times, but chooses to observe Christmas and Easter and Halloween instead, because their family wants them to?
Having learned the ways of the Father, and to choose not to do them is not a different place on the path.
It is simple rebellion.
It is simply resisting the ways of the Father, in favor of our own ways, or in favor of the ways of the world.
It is called being lukewarm about the truth you have learned.
Revelation 3:16
16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.
If you have friends in Torah who are lukewarm, please stop making excuses for them by saying they are in a different place on this path.
Either they are His sheep, hear His voice, and do the things He says, or they are not…
Luke 6:46
46 “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Please don’t enable their lack of commitment to the Word.
Instead, pray for them to fully and wholly submit to Yehova.