The Narrow Gate: Choosing Your Path in 2026

As we step into a new year, there's something deeply human about wanting to start fresh. We make resolutions, set goals, and hope that somehow this year will be different. But what if the most important decision we face isn't about fitness plans or career goals, but about the very path our life is taking?

Your GPS Is Wrong
Picture this: You're driving through unfamiliar territory, following your GPS faithfully, when suddenly you encounter a large, official-looking sign that reads: "No Access. Your GPS is wrong." Confusing, right? Yet this is exactly what happens to anyone who genuinely follows Christ in today's world. The culture, social media, even well-meaning friends will tell you that the narrow way of Jesus is outdated, restrictive, or simply wrong.
The world offers what appears to be a much better route—wider, more comfortable, with plenty of company along the way. But appearances can be devastatingly deceiving.

Two Gates, Two Roads, Two Destinations
In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus presents us with a stark choice that cuts through all the noise: "Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it."
These aren't the words of someone trying to sell us on an easy prosperity gospel. This is reality from the lips of Truth himself. Jesus doesn't promise comfort—He promises life. Real, eternal, abundant life. But it comes through a gate so narrow that we can't squeeze through it carrying all our pride, self-righteousness, and worldly treasures.
Think about airport security. You don't waltz through in groups, joking around. You approach one at a time. You prove who you are. You submit to the process. The narrow gate Jesus describes is similar—it requires individual humility, personal repentance, and genuine surrender to Him as Master.

The Highway to Hell Isn't Just a Song
In 1979, the rock band AC/DC released "Highway to Hell," with lyrics celebrating autonomy, pleasure-seeking, and rejection of any moral authority. The singer boasted about living free, taking everything, needing no reason or rhyme. Tragically, just six months after the song's release, the lead singer died from acute alcohol poisoning—a death officially classified as "death by misadventure."
How many people today are headed toward eternal death by misadventure? Not because they're actively evil, but because they're following what seems right, what feels good, what the majority affirms. Proverbs 14:12 warns: "There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death."
The broad road doesn't advertise itself as the path to destruction. It promises fulfillment, authenticity, and freedom. It's the path of least resistance, where you can bring all your friends, keep all your comforts, and never face the discomfort of true transformation.

The Ancient Path in a Modern World
The prophet Jeremiah spoke of "ancient paths"—the way established by God from the beginning. In Jeremiah 6:16, God says: "Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths. Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves."
But the people responded: "We won't."
Our culture constantly promotes new paths, new truths, new ways of finding meaning. Social media influencers, self-help gurus, and even some who call themselves preachers offer shortcuts and comfortable alternatives. But God's way hasn't changed. The path established from Genesis, confirmed through Abraham's faith, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ remains the only way to true life.
Jesus didn't leave room for ambiguity. In John 14:6, He declared: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He is both the gate (John 10:9) and the path. Christianity is exclusive in this sense—not because it's closed to certain people, but because there's only one way in: through Jesus.

The Cost of the Narrow Way
Let's be honest: following Jesus in 2026 won't be comfortable. The narrow way is described as "difficult" and "constricted." It will cost you autonomy, popularity, and perhaps even relationships. It requires daily submission, ongoing transformation, and the willingness to be misunderstood.
But here's what the narrow way offers in return: true life, authentic rest, eternal security, and the presence of God himself. As Psalm 23 promises, even when we walk through the darkest valley, we need fear no danger because the Good Shepherd is with us.
The narrow path isn't about moral perfection or self-improvement. You can't make yourself good enough for God. The gate is narrow precisely because you must come empty-handed, spiritually bankrupt, recognizing that only Christ's righteousness can save you. As the Beatitudes begin: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Checking Your GPS
So here's the question as we begin this year: Which gate have you entered? Which path are you on?
Maybe you've known the historical facts about Jesus your whole life. Maybe you even attend church occasionally. But knowing about Jesus isn't the same as knowing Jesus. Even demons believe the facts and shudder (James 2:19).
True Christianity requires repentance—a turning from your own way to God's way. It requires faith—trusting that Jesus died for your sins specifically and rose again to give you new life. It requires surrender—acknowledging Jesus not just as Savior but as Master, the one you will follow.
This isn't a decision you can make for someone else or have made for you. Like those turnstiles at an amusement park, you go through one at a time. Your spouse's faith won't save you. Your parents' church attendance won't save you. Each person must individually humble themselves and enter through the narrow gate.

A Brief Pause Between Eternities
This life—whether we get thirty years or ninety—is nothing more than a brief pause between two very long eternities. There was an eternity past when we didn't exist. There will be an eternity future that never ends. What matters most is not how comfortable we are during this brief pause, but where we'll spend that endless future.
As we navigate 2026, we haven't passed this way before. We don't know what challenges, losses, or opportunities await. But we can choose today which GPS we'll follow—the world's system that leads to destruction, or God's positioning system that leads to life.
Jesus stands as the gate, inviting all who will come. The path through Him is narrow and difficult, but it leads to life abundant and eternal. The alternative path is broad and easy, but its destination is destruction.
The choice is yours. Check your GPS.