DAILY TEXT, From today Friday January 20, Narrow is the gate and strait is the path that leads to life (Mat. 7:14).

DAILY TEXT, From today Friday January 20, 2023, Narrow is the door and narrow is the path that leads to life (Mat. 7:14).

Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2023

Friday January 20

Narrow is the gate and strait is the road that leads to life (Matt. 7:14).

It is possible to find the path that leads to life, for Jesus said: “If you abide in my teachings, you are really my disciples; they will know the truth, and the truth will set them free” (John 8:31, 32). It's a good thing you didn't follow the crowd, but searched for the truth. He began an in-depth study of God's Word to learn its standards and listened to the teachings of Jesus. He learned that Jehovah expects us to reject what false religions teach and to stop participating in celebrations and customs that have pagan origins. He also discovered that sometimes it is not easy to do what Jehovah asks of us and to leave behind practices of which he disapproves.—Matt. 10:34-36. It may have been hard for you to make these changes, but because you loved your heavenly Father, you didn't give up. Jehovah must be very pleased with you (Prov. 27:11). w21.12 22 par. 3; 23 para. 5.

According to Psalm 119:9, 10, 45, 133, what can help us stay on the narrow path?

If we have already started to go down the narrow path, what can help us to stay on it? Let's make a comparison. In some countries, narrow mountain roads have a safety barrier on the edges that serves to protect the driver and his vehicle. This barrier prevents them from getting too close to the edge or even falling off a cliff. Isn't it true that no driver would complain that this barrier is too restrictive? Well, Jehovah's standards found in the Bible are like those barriers: They serve to keep us on the narrow path. (Read Psalm 119:9, 10, 45, 133.)

How should young people view the narrow path?

Young man, do you sometimes find that Jehovah's standards are too restrictive? That is what Satan wants you to think. Try to get you to notice what those who go on the spacious road are doing and how much they seem to be having fun. He wants you to believe that you are not enjoying yourself as much as your schoolmates and the people you see online, and that Jehovah's standards are robbing you of the good things in life.b But remember, Satan does not care that those who go by your way see what awaits you at the end of the journey. However, Jehovah has given you a clear picture of what those who stay on the path that leads to life will receive (Ps. 37:29; Is. 35:5, 6; 65:21-23).

What can young people learn from Olaf's example?

Think about what you can learn from the experience of a young brother named Olaf.c His classmates pressured him to engage in immoral behavior. When he explained that Jehovah's Witnesses abide by the high moral standards of the Bible, several girls in his class took it as a challenge and tried to convince him to have sex with them. But he did not give in to the pressure, and that was not the only one he had. He says: “My teachers insisted that I go to university, because that is something that gives you prestige. They told me that if I didn't do it, I wouldn't be someone in life”. How did you manage to resist so much pressure? He explains: “I found good friends in the congregation. They became like my family. I also began to take my study of the Bible more seriously. The deeper I went, the more convinced I became that this is the truth, and the more determined I was to serve Jehovah.”

What should we do if we want to stay on the narrow path?

Satan wants us to get off the road that leads to life and go along with the majority of mankind on the broad road that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13). But, if we keep listening to Jesus and see the narrow path as a protection, we will not get out of it. Now let's look at another thing that Jesus said we should do.

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