I'm posting this on December 26th, and honestly, that feels right.
Yesterday, you were probably caught up in the rush and bash. Smoke mixed with the aroma of goat meat tore into the skies. Chicken came out of the oven. Children tore into gifts while adults sipped soup and tried to remember where they put their phones to take selfies.
But today? Today the house is quieter. The guests have gone home. You're sitting with leftovers and perhaps a moment to actually reflect.
So let's talk about what just happened.
The Child Who Split History in Two
Isaiah saw Him coming seven hundred years before His birth. The prophet wrote words that still make your spine tingle:
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of peace."
A child. Born in obscurity. Laid in a feeding trough because there was no room anywhere else.
This is how God chose to enter His own creation. Not with armies or earthquakes or political manifestations. With a baby who needed His mother's milk and His father's protection.
The government on His shoulders? It didn't look like any government the world had ever seen. No palace. No military. No political machinery. Just a carpenter's son who would grow up to say things like "love your enemies" and "it is finished"
The world still doesn't know what to do with Him.
Beyond the Soup Sipping
During this season, we get good at celebrating. We're excellent at slaughtering and family gatherings and creating memories. These things matter. God is not opposed to joy or feasting or human connection.
But pause for a moment. Look past the Christmas tree.
Christmas points to a cross. The baby in the manger came with a mission. He arrived to die. His birth was the beginning of the most important redemption operation in human history.
That sounds dubious until you understand what He redeemed us from.
He died. They buried Him. Then He walked out of the tomb, and everything changed. Death no longer had the final word. Sin no longer had complete power. The grave no longer got to keep what it held.
Now He sits at the right hand of God. Far above every power structure, every government, every authority that will ever exist. Above every name that gets dropped in boardrooms or shouted at political rallies or whispered in fear.
And here's the part that should make you sit up straight: if you belong to Him, you are seated there with Him. Not someday. Now. Your position is secure. Your identity is settled. Your future is guaranteed.
But it gets better.
He didn't leave you to figure this out alone. The Holy Spirit lives in you. Comforting you when grief shows up uninvited. Helping you when you're pressed under the carpet. Guiding you when the when the path is murky.
This is what love looks like. This is what victory actually means. This is the kind of power that doesn't need to announce itself because it speaks for itself.
This is the reason for the season.
The Path Few Are Promoting on Social Media
Here's where it gets uncomfortable.
Following Jesus is not the path most people choose. It doesn't trend. It doesn't get you applause. It definitely doesn't make you feel good about yourself all the time.
Jesus said it plainly:
"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."
He wasn't trying to sell you anything. He was telling you the truth.
The narrow path requires choices that feel strange to everyone around you:
Forgive when you have every right to stay angry. Give generously when saving makes more sense. Serve others when you could be building your personal brand. Tell the truth when lies would be easier. Love people when indifference would be safer.
Consider Matthew. He was sitting in his tax booth, hated by his community, getting rich off their resentment. Then Jesus walked by and said two words: "Follow me."
Matthew stood up and walked away from everything.
No pocket money. No backup plan. No LinkedIn profile to fall back on. He traded security for uncertainty, wealth for poverty, and social standing for association with a controversial rabbi who had no political connections.
The world would call that stupid. Heaven calls it wisdom.
Matthew became one of the twelve apostles. His name is still known two thousand years later. He wrote one of the four gospels. His choice to follow Jesus became part the foundation of Christianity that outlasted Rome itself.
He chose the narrow path, and it led him to life.
What It Actually Costs
Let's be honest about the price tag.
Following Jesus will cost you the approval of people who measure success by salary and square footage. It will cost you the comfort of never making waves. It will demand your pride, your control, your detailed five-year plan.
You'll have to give up your right to nurse grudges. You'll have to surrender the carefully edited version of yourself you show the world. You'll have to abandon your addiction to comfort. You'll have to stop trying to serve both God and your bank account.
It feels like everything.
Peter understood this. When other disciples started walking away because Jesus' teaching got too hard, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked if they wanted to leave too.
Peter's response should be tattooed on your heart:
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Peter had already walked away from his fishing empire. He'd already counted the cost. When Jesus gave him an exit ramp, Peter recognized something crucial: there was nowhere else to go. Every other path led to death wearing different clothes.
Only Jesus had the words of eternal life.
When you see that clearly, the choice becomes obvious. Not easy. Just obvious.
The Myth of the Middle Ground
Our culture wants desperately to believe in a third option. A path where you can have Jesus and keep your comfort. Where you can follow Christ without it costing you anything significant. Where you can enjoy eternal life without any earthly inconvenience.
That path doesn't exist.
Jesus said,
"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
He wasn't exaggerating. He was describing how your heart actually works.
You will serve something. You will build your life around something. You will sacrifice for something. The only question is what that something will be.
The attempted middle ground is just the wide path dressed up in Christian language. It's choosing death while trying to feel spiritual about it. It's the rich young ruler walking away sad, telling himself he'll follow Jesus later when it's more convenient.
But later never comes. Convenient never arrives. Enough is never enough.
The middle ground is quicksand disguised as solid ground.
The Backwards Kingdom
Here's what the world cannot wrap its mind around: the narrow path is the only place where you actually find what you were looking for on the wide path.
You were searching for security in retirement accounts. Real security is found in the hands of God, who numbers every hair on your head.
You were seeking significance in job titles and follower counts. True significance is found in being known by the Creator of the life.
You were looking for freedom in doing whatever you want. Real freedom is found in surrender to the One who created you.
Jesus put it this way:
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
The path that looks like death leads to life. The path that promises life leads to death. The entire value system of the Kingdom operates in reverse to everything the world teaches you.
Everyone who has chosen the narrow path knows this. They gave up control and found peace. They surrendered their plans and found purpose. They chose sacrifice and experienced joy. They walked away from worldly success and found something infinitely more valuable: the approval of the One whose opinion actually matters.
The Clock Is Ticking
You can't postpone this choice forever.
Every day you delay, you're walking down one path or the other. Indecision is a decision. Waiting is a choice. Not choosing now means you're currently choosing the wide path.
"Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
The narrow path doesn't get wider with time. The cost doesn't decrease as you get older. The decision doesn't become easier after you've accumulated more stuff to leave behind.
If anything, the opposite happens. The longer you walk the wide path, the more invested you become. The more roots you put down. The harder it becomes to turn around.
This is why Jesus spoke with urgency. Why He called people to immediate, radical decisions. Because He understood that human hearts are masters of delay. Champions of "someday."
But someday is not on the calendar. Later is not guaranteed. The favourable time is now. The day of salvation is today.
Your Move
You're standing at a turning point right now.
One path is crowded and well-lit. It leads to a destination the world applauds. The other path is narrow and steep. It leads to a destination the world cannot see.
One path promises everything and delivers emptiness. The other promises nothing except the presence of God and delivers everything that actually matters.
The child born in Bethlehem grew up to offer you a choice. He didn't make it sound appealing. He told you the truth: choosing life is difficult, costly, and often lonely.
But it's the only choice that leads somewhere worth going.
So choose life. Choose it now. Choose it consciously. Choose it without looking back.
Your eternity depends on which path you take from this moment forward.
Merry Christmas. May it be full of love, joy, order, peace, and justice. May you know the wonder of the Counsellor, the strength of the Mighty God, the care of the Everlasting Father, and the rest that comes from the Prince of Peace.
You are wonderful people. And the God who became a baby to save you thinks so too.
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