Life is a Funnel

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14

Everything about the Kingdom is upside down. This means that life under the rule of Christ requires a constant reshaping of our hearts and minds, how we reason, what we value, how we make decisions. He says the way to find life is to lose it. He says the way to be rich is to give. He says the best way to overcome evil is with good.

And that the hardest path leads to life.

J. Vernon McGree (1904-1988) writes that a simple way to remember this is that life is a funnel.

The wide way, the way that feels comfortable, easy, spacious, free … actually narrows into restrictions, slavery, death.

The narrow way, the way that looks uncomfortable, limited, hard, constricting … actually widens into joy, abundance, freedom.

We can see this play out in all sorts of ways:

Choose the “narrow” road of self-control, eating carefully, disciplining our bodies through exercise, getting sleep and drinking water — this seems the limited, hard, constricting way. It seems so much “freer” to eat what we want, get up when we want, drink what we want. But how much more freedom and energy and LIFE do we experience when we have health and vitality and mental stability? The narrow way widens into life.

Or choosing the “narrow” way of abstinence before marriage, of following God’s clear plan for sexuality. It seems restrictive, limited, “narrow-minded,” but in the end it brings LIFE and abundance and health. The opposite “freer” way only brings more and more sorrow and disfunction.

It’s true of any addiction. The “freedom” to engage in whatever it is whenever we want however we want only ends in slavery.

The wide way narrows until it’s so tight you are trapped.

The narrow way widens until you find yourself running free.

God is the only Master who makes life better and freer and bigger the longer we go His way.

Of course He doesn’t give us a timeframe. It may feel narrow and hard our whole lives, but by faith we believe it’ll be worth it in the end. Someday, we’ll reach the end of the funnel and find the way so wide we could never have imagined its glory:

No eyes has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Seeking the narrow path along with you, friends,

Kari