Walking the Straight and Narrow

"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7

If you have watched female gymnasts perform on a balance beam you have no doubt seen them fall. The things those young ladies do on that beam are amazing. How in the world they do back flips, and jumps, and twists and turns baffles me. I took some classes in gymnastics in college and although the balance beam is a woman’s event I once tried to walk from one end to the other on one. I found how hard it was to simply walk without falling off. That thing is so narrow and intimidating. But of course I did not know the fundamentals necessary to stay on that apparatus, nor had I put in the hours of practice that it takes to be successful. Can you imagine trying to walk a tight road?

Being a successful gymnast, whatever the event, takes hours of practice, conditioning, dedication and tremendous concentration, especially on the narrow balance beam.  Just being a hair off to the right or to the left will likely cause a fall. That is what Joshua was saying to the Israelites when he told them to be careful to follow God’s words and not turn to the right or to the left.

These people first had to know the laws, understand what was expected of them, and believe that God was to be obeyed. Joshua warned them that if they turned ever so slightly to the right they would fall. If they turned to the left they would fall. Our path in life, if we belong to Jesus, is not a wide open, broad freeway. It is very narrow, and the Bible says that there will be few who will travel the way of the straight and narrow. This narrow path is not easy. Walking the narrow path is like trying to do a back flip on a balance beam, I think. Sometimes following Jesus is hard. We have to stay in good spiritual shape, condition ourselves so that we will be strong. We have to be dedicated to the study of God’s word and concentrate on that narrow path so that we might remain courageous when confronted by the enemy.

We have a teacher, an instructor, in the Holy Spirit. He shows us the path that Jesus walked. When Jesus came to dwell among man to be our Savior he knew exactly the path he had to walk. He knew where his journey would end. From the beginning Jesus’ eyes were fixed on the cross. Jesus stayed perfectly balanced on that path that eventually led to his death so that mankind could be saved from sin. Jesus did not once turn to the right or to the left. He never fell despite being tempted as we are tempted. So our instructor, the Holy Spirit, is with us to help us focus our eyes on the one who will keep us from falling to the left or to the right. The only way we will walk that narrow beam or path is by keeping our eyes on Jesus.