This thing that you keep seeing through scripture is, you have two choices: life, death; blessings, curses; darkness, light. Choose life, that you might live. Choose to be in the light, as He is in the light. Jesus is simply using the same principle, with a different example.
He says: there are many times in life where you're going to come to a fork in the road. If you ever in life are faced with a decision, where most people are going one way - chances are, you should be going the other. Some of this is just common-sense.
What percentage of people do their finances actually work? Very few! Statistically most of you are broke; and I don't know you, but statistically most of you are broke.
According to US News and World Report, 63 per cent of every single person over 60 does not have $1,000 in the bank. How is that even possible? That is totally trying to live on accident, with no plan at all, and waking up one day at 68 and going: oh no! The truth is that most people live like that, according to US News and Word Report. I find that statistic hard to believe, but they printed it, so may as well use it.
What percentage of people are living pay-cheque to pay-cheque? Most. What percentage of guys in this room - and don't answer me, I'm being rhetorical here - how many of you actually have financial peace - where you sit in your chair at night, and you're not wondering how you're going to pay your bills? My guess is: not very many. My guess is: most people don't experience that at all.
What percentage of marriages actually work? Somewhere around one in five! If you have a great marriage, hold onto it, because it's really, really rare - about one in five, one in five. Fifty per cent of marriages divorce, another 25 per cent of people are just holding. One in five are like: she's my best friend, he's my best friend, we're going through - this is awesome! Very few!
Jesus is saying something that's very obvious. He says: when you look at life, and you look at people winning, and you look at people losing, most people are losing; but the reason most people are losing, is because they don't have what it takes, to make the choice to stay on the high road. They don't have what it takes to stay over here.
So one principle about this that is very, very important - there are three images Jesus gives, and they all have a different message to speak to us.
The first image He gives is gates. He says: broad is the road, and narrow is the way, that leads to life. So there's a broad gate, and a narrow gate.
Now in Jewish literature, this is a metaphor for the city. This is a metaphor for the city. What they did in all of Jewish literature is, they used Jerusalem as the example of attaining your goal. So instead of saying: hey, have you met that goal; they might say: hey, have you made it into the city with that? It was a euphemism, it was a metaphor for doing that; and the problem with that is, is that as you got closer to the city, the road got narrower; so you had to, with full intention, try to make your way into the city.
You couldn't just accidentally make it to the city. You had to with full intention. That's why, even in the Bible, when it talks about Jesus going to Jerusalem, it always adds adjectives that don't seem necessary, like: and Jesus resolutely set out to Jerusalem. Why would you add that? Why not say: well, Jesus intended to go to Jerusalem? No, no, no. He resolutely set out to go to Jerusalem. Why?
Their idea, in all of their literature, was that if you're going to make it to where you want to go, you can't try to get there accidentally. You have to live with full intention!
In other words, if you don't know the road that you're on, and where it's taking you, it more than likely is leading you to destruction. If you're trying to live accidentally, it just doesn't work.
I'm not going to do this to you, but if I did, you should be prepared. If I just pointed you out, and said: quickly sir, tell me where you want to be, financially, in six months? If you can't do that, then you're losing financially.
People who are winning financially, understand that they have to have a goal, and a plan, and a strategy; and the only thing that gives them the power to say no to frivolous spending, is that they're saying yes to financial abundance.
If you can't tell me your goal in six months, for where you want to be financially, I can tell you you're losing; and so what I'd do is: go home today, and sit down at a table, and take 30 minutes, and write out a six-month goal. Write out a year goal. Write out a plan to make that goal.