Escaping the Fire
“The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.”
—Chris Isaak
Here is a visual that I think explains salvation in a clear way. Say you are in a forest that is completely on fire (it represents the world) and Jesus tells us all “I know the only way out of here, the path is narrow, so follow me”. Right off the bat there are those that do not believe Him and go their own way only to be burned up.
There are others that start out believing him, but start to think there may be other paths out of the forest. They don’t really like how restrictive this narrow path is and as it be becomes more challenging to navigate they become frustrated, even resentful. They come across some others who are laughing at them and try to reason that there is a much easier way, so eventually they decide to take what appears to be an easier, broader path, only to get burned up.
There are others who find this path very boring. It’s so narrow they can’t even see what’s in front of Jesus, so eventually they become distracted by a more adventurous, scenic path and decide that must be a better way. They venture off only to be burned up.
Last you have those who are grateful to Jesus for showing them the way. They believe wholeheartedly that He truly is the only person who can save them from this fire, but they must keep their eyes on Him and follow Him all the way til the end of the path. They may stumble or get momentarily distracted and get off course, but each time they start to get lost they cry out to Jesus for help and He comes and rescues them to get them back on the path. They eventually make it safely out of the forest and are the only survivors.
That in essence is the same as the parable of the seeds that fell on different ground (Matthew 13). All too often I think Christians make the mistake of thinking there are only 2 kinds of people…those who hear the gospel and reject it and those who hear it and accept it. But scripture tell us there are 4. With that in mind we are able to discern where we are in our walk with the Lord. Do we truly believe He is the one that saves and follow Him alone? Or does the world’s paths seem more promising to us?
