The mass of people prefer the easy way.    William Danforth

 

What is it that sets some people above others? There are some people that have seemed to have just stumbled over some "magic formula" that gives them an unfair advantage in this life. We call it being lucky, or being born with a silver spoon in their mouth, however, when you really examine their lives, you will usually find that their secret is just plain, hard work.

 

Most people don't like hard work. William Danforth, the president and founder of the Purina Company, observed that most people prefer easy over hard. No big mystery there, but understanding this truth will give you an incredible advantage over your competitors.

 

Think about it for a moment: Have you ever seen any successful person who achieves great things on a consistent basis who does so by simply being lucky? We often make that very claim and, though it is true that there are some people who really have just stumbled across something good, examples of such men are much more rare than you might imagine. The fact is the people who succeed in business, in marriage, in sports, or in just about anything else you can name, have all accomplished these victories through a relentless pursuit of an intentional goal. Further, the hard work required to achieve these great things does not seem deter these people at all. In many instances it seems to spur them on.

 

This truth is important to grasp because we will find by understanding that most people prefer the easy way, it will give us opportunities to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. Do you want you or your team to win the State Championship in sports? Then you will have to work harder than your opponent. Now this will not guarantee you the trophy every time, but it will certainly put you further down  the road to that victory. This principle, by the way, is the same for success in just about any endeavor you can think of.

 

But now, let's move on to the truly important: Our eternal soul! Consider the words of Jesus:

 

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.

Matthew 7:13, NASB

 

Do you see? The broad way, is the easy way, and most people will choose that easy way even though it leads to destruction. It's hard to imagine for something as all-important as one's eternity, but it is true. Jesus would have never said it if it were not so. "Wait a minute", you might be thinking, "It doesn't say that most people will choose the easy path, it just says that many will. There's a difference, isn't there?" But read on, and I think you will see that He does indicate that most will choose the path that leads to destruction:

 

For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

Matthew 7:14, NASB

 

There it is! When you are referring to the same population, many is more than few, and Jesus says that only the few will find life and that the many will go on to be destroyed. But, how could that be? Doesn't everybody want to be saved? The answer lies in the very principle that we have been looking at. In any pursuit that is worthwhile, success is contingent upon hard work. It is true that gifts of natural aptitude and ability will assist our physical pursuits, but hard work is still required.

 

And, though it is certainly true that the gifts of God's grace and Christ's sacrifice are vital to our obtaining the ultimate goal of salvation, it is equally true that most people will choose a broad and easy path that will lead them away from this goal. It behooves us, therefore, to be determined to do the hard work. Not because we are perversely thinking that we are earning our salvation in some way, but because service to God is hard work, and our Holy Father and our precious Savior deserve nothing less than our very best efforts.

 

When it comes to salvation, we cannot afford to go along with the mass of people who prefer the easy way. So, let's get to work!