If we want to walk with God, Jesus shows two phases for the journey of our lives: “… for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14).
If we want to walk together with Him, we must first pass through the narrow gate, which stands for building our faith on Jesus Christ.
This phase the Bible calls ‘being saved’ or ‘being born again’, due to what God does (see John 1:12-13; 3:1-8). ‘The way’ stands for the new life that follows.
Active, not passive
Being saved does not presuppose a passive status, “For in Him we live and move and have our being ….” (Acts 17:28). That implies continual movement, progress, growth.
Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”
If that is our desire, it demands total surrender and dedication. Thus, we acknowledge that God has a right of access to every aspect of our lives. Our complete, unconditional surrender is a personal decision. He expects that from us, for that is true discipleship.
Thus, the way for Him is open to make the necessary changes in our thinking and behavior. Our ‘old thinking’ that contradicts God’s thinking is renewed as we read in Romans 8:7 and Isaiah 55:8-9. Then it will not be our interests but those of God and His Kingdom which come first. What God wants, I also want. “Your Kingdom come LORD!”
Not by our own power
How can we achieve that goal? No effort on our part is enough. We need a greater power; that is the power of the Holy Spirit. We read “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).
The Holy Spirit is connected to God’s Word. Without the Holy Spirit, we see the Bible as nothing but dead letters.
Before we can hear God speak to us through the Bible, we must receive His Word in a meek and teachable attitude (James 1:21). In Mark 10:14-15, Jesus presents a small child as an example of how we should receive the truth of God’s Kingdom. In order to be able to understand the voice of the Holy Spirit, we must lay aside everything that contradicts God’s Word.
Being led by the Spirit
Our dependence on the Holy Spirit is not limited to understanding God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is also the God-appointed Guide who guides us on the narrow way, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The more sensitive we become to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the more we will be able to walk with certainty in the way that He shows us.
In order to stay on that path, we can always ask the Holy Spirit to point out what else we have to get rid of, in order to experience His guidance. Both conscious and unconscious sins cloud our view on His guidance, “your sins have hidden His face from you” (Isaiah 59:2). But when we then confess our sins, we get a better view on the way He wants to go with us.
The best path
Walking with God on this path is the best way for us, in which we can fully experience His blessing in this life. That is the experience of many who walk this way and who can testify to it!