Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) The Narrow Way
“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.”
Our congregation’s priest was being retired and there were no possible replacements that we saw on the horizon. Then, God who works many a blessed surprise “brought” a servant from Germany along with his family to our community. He was being assigned for two years by his employer. He became our priest and served us with love and joy.
Early in his time with us, he confided in me that he was concerned about his lack of English vocabulary and hoped that he would not make a mistake in language that would offend someone in the congregation.
I assured him that the Holy Spirit would guide him through every service but if he had any reservations, I offered my help with words. After all, he understood that words can have multiple meanings and can easily be misinterpreted.
Each Sunday morning I prayed for him specifically for his serving, knowing his concerns regarding his choice of words.
As the sermon unfolded, I sensed our priest leading up to the Bible passage above regarding the “narrow way” that leads to life. But as the words flowed, instead of using the word “narrow” he used the word “corridor”. My heart leapt as I took in that word in the context of the biblical passage. I was mesmerized by a whole new perspective on that passage. A passage I had used many times in my own years of serving sermons at the altar. Now in my mid-seventies, God speaks a whole new way to see that age-old passage.
In my business as an engineer, our company serves primarily hospitals and schools. We take their old threadbare drawings and convert them into computerized electronic drawings. These drawings for both schools and hospitals have countless corridors on their drawings of floor plans. These corridors gave a new view of the “narrow way”.
The term “narrow way” implies a restriction, a limitation on one’s freedom; an assault on our ability to go where we want to go and a real inconvenience. Such negative feels are highlighted in the bible passage that indicates that the more popular way is the wide one.
As I considered the opportunities offered by the concept of corridors, I realized the following observations.
In a school setting the corridors lead to numerous classrooms. Each offering a differing set of knowledge and teachings. Laboratories offer an opportunity to learn by means of experimentation. Seeing firsthand how one thing leads to another.
Another room teaches geography wherein we learn about places far different from our own local experience. Each room offers new opportunity to grow in wisdom and understanding.
In the hospital setting, corridors lead to rooms where illnesses are diagnosed, where equipment is available to see beyond the human eye, and where there are instruments that reveal symptoms of serious illness. Still other rooms are there for surgery, recovery, rehabilitation, and therapeutic equipment.
I invite you my readers, to customize these seedling thoughts of mine to expand how the “corridor” perspective can illuminate the ‘narrow ways’ that you experience in your life. I see a whole plethora of spiritual views hereto for unexplored. I wonder what fascinating revelations our God will open to you.
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