How do I get out of here?

Maybe you made a mistake somewhere along the way. You compromised and started following an easy road, a broad road. And you know Jesus talked about a narrow road, but you’re having a heck of a time finding it, much less walking on it. Where’s the on-ramp? There’s a great gulf bet…

By Seth Barnes

08 July 2010, 12:07 am

By Seth Barnes

08 July 2010, 12:07 am

Maybe you made a mistake somewhere along the way. You compromised and started following an easy road, a broad road. And you know Jesus talked about a narrow road, but you’re having a heck of a time finding it, much less walking on it. Where’s the on-ramp?

There’s a great gulf between deciding to quit and actually quitting. This can be good and bad. On the one hand, a great many more people attempt suicide than actually succeed in ending their life. On the other hand, you can find yourself stuck in a depressing rut and despair of ever getting out.

Let’s say you’ve decided that you’re going down the wrong track in life, how do you quit? Jesus’ method of choice was cold turkey. Multiple times someone came to him ready to jump ship if they could just complete a little business beforehand, things like burying a loved one who had died.

Jesus’ response to those struggling with how to quit could be interpreted as harsh, “Sell everything you own,” he said to the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23). “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead,” he said to a man whose father had just died (Matt. 8:19-22).

Did he just not care about the man’s need to mourn his father? What’s going on there? Perhaps Jesus’ dramatic request was linked to his understanding that there’s something in all of us that will find an excuse to put off a particularly hard choice. Leaving a place of comfort is rarely easy. But leaving is something that we need to do if we’re ever to get to a place of freedom.

We have to leave the place where we’ve exchanged our freedom for a lifestyle of predetermined choices. We have to rediscover that place in life where freedom is a scary everyday reality. We need to go out from a place that feels comfortable, but may actually be a place of bondage. We have to say goodbye to what’s become commonplace if we are ever to discover that narrow passage into the kingdom God and our identity in it.

If your current path is not enough for you – if you’re actively struggling with this issue, then let Derek Webb’s song minister to you today. There’s a lot more in you than the world has seen. Let God help you give it away.

Comments (5)

Butch Maltby

July 8, 2010 at 1:27 am

Hey friend…As one on this lonely road life seems to come a day at a time. Bluntly any touting “retirement” lost Jesus on the path. I do not believe you can be follower of Jesus and work for a retirement gild.
**mArC**

July 8, 2010 at 6:59 am

So wonderful, thanks man.
caitlin

July 9, 2010 at 1:36 am

thank you
seth

September 19, 2010 at 7:55 am

NOT

here’s more:
https://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=how-to-commit-suicide
t

October 19, 2022 at 11:13 pm

So is this saying we should commit suicide or should NOT commit suicide???