The Road Less Traveled

So I was listening to some music on an errand tonight, and this Third Day song came on, "Can't Take The Pain". I've listened to it a hundred times at least and I love that song, but tonight a certain line stuck with me and got me thinking.

"So I'm off to follow in your steps
it won't be easy, it's safe to say
There are only two roads I can walk on down
The road less traveled is the one you paved"

The part that I really started thinking about was "The road less traveled is the one you paved"
Because through His life, and in His death... Jesus DID pave the way for us, didn't He? He traveled down the road that He in turn wants us to travel down.

And so I contemplate. Thinking of this in a somewhat literal sense... what happens when you pave a road? It makes it easier to travel. It marks it as the designated path, without confusion, right? You don't drive down the road and begin to wonder "is this still the road?" when you're on a paved road. If you go off the paved road, running from pavement into open fields, sidewalks on city streets, or into ditches... well, you KNOW you're no longer on the paved road. So in paving the road for us, Jesus made it a designated way, a place that we couldn't confuse for something else, a path that if we detoured, we would know. And isn't that how it is with this road less traveled? When we're on it, we usually know. Let's face it, it's the road LESS traveled, and so it's the road that's not easy, that's met with opposition, that brings hurdles and issues and hard times. But yet, in all of those things, and in our communication with His Spirit, we can KNOW that this is the way, the right way. And when we detour, the Spirit also lets us know "Hey, you're in the ditch, dummy". So Jesus made the road obvious for us, made the road a bit easier for us when He took it first. He lived the example. And although we will never be as good as He was, and although we could never live up to that example... it's in our very relationship WITH Him that we can walk on that road.

The other point I have is this. When you have a common road, a path, a hiking trail let's say, an unpaved road - and millions of people take this road daily - no matter how many of them walk it before you, it DOESN'T make it easier for you. On the contrary, a lot of unpaved roads tend to get ruts and small ditches in them as more and more people walk over it. So in a way, a million people walking that common path before you just makes it harder for you to walk. And there are often rocks, tree roots, and various other problems... sitting in your way just waiting to HURT YOU. On the paved road that Jesus set for us, the road is never what can harm us. It's the enemy's attacks along that road that can harm us. But the road remains unchanged, remains paved, remains safe. In fact, a paved road is more comfortable and easy to walk on any day of the week than just a dirt path, or a worn in rock way, etc.

So I guess I say this. A paved road is a paved road, comfortable to walk on, easy to move forward on, no matter how many people have walked it before me. It's a solid foundation that actually works to propel me forward, devoid of all those roots and rocks and foundational problems. Jesus paved the way. For me, for you, for anyone wishing to take the path. He laid the foundation... He laid the solid rock for us... He not only IS our foundation, a solid foundation, a foundation I'm never scared to walk on because it's always there, it helps me forward, and it's obvious when I'm on and off it... but He's also the one that set down that foundation for us, He walked that foundation, He showed the way.

I know this is rather "rambly", but I hope you can follow where I went with it. I'd rather be on the road that was paved by Jesus any day as opposed to a path walked by more than I could ever count, a path that can shake my feet, twist my ankles, and just isn't solid enough to be my true foundation. What about you?