The Narrow Path

I am reading 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien and the fourth chapter really grabbed my attention. Since J.R.R. Tolkien is a Christian writer, a lot of the situations and characters are based on scripture. At the beginning of the fourth chapter Gandalf, the dwarfs, and the hobbit came to a point where the road they were traveling on forked into several roads. There are several easy paths but most of them are full of evil, on the right there is a steep rock path overgrown with weeds. The easy paths are the paths the paths that lead to Hell, the right path leads to God. Gandalf chooses the right path. Not very long afterward, the mountains randomly come alive during a thunder storm and start throwing rocks at each other. The dwarfs, Gandalf, and the hobbit are irritated and scared so they start looking for shelter, eventually they find a cave and settle down for the night. BIG MISTAKE! Instead of toughing it out when things got rough they tried to avoid it. In the middle of the night goblins (the demons) emerge from a crack in the back of the cave and pull everyone into it. The goblins chain their hands behind their backs and take them to J.J.R. Tolkien's version of Hell.

On that happy note, let's get on to the lesson to be learned. Being a Christian can be very difficult at times but that doesn't mean we run to shelter. Jesus didn't run away when he knew he was going to be arrested, follow his example. Sometimes Satan puts obstacles in your way and God allows it because He knows if you have faith in Him you can overcome that obstacle easily. Straying from the path to God has consequences.