Tim Ellens

Picture an ibex walking down Cardo Street in the ancient city of Bethshan. The poor little guy wouldn't know what to do with all that road. God gave him the feet for a different kind of path, a much narrower one on the side of a mountain. The ibex would feel more comfortable on a two-inch wide paver stone with a fifty-foot drop off one side.

Often, we want to have the nimble feet of the ibex but are unwilling to change addresses. We're pretty comfortable on our versions of Cardo Street. Just as Alexander the Great Hellenized the ancient world, our own materialistic world has really gotten its cultural lures hooked into us. Like the ancient Greeks, we read books on habits of being highly effective, check out show listings at the local AMP30, and wonder if our favorite "gladiators" will be any good this year. Too often we rely on ourselves to discern truth. Our Hellenistic culture is all about self-edification and entertainment. While narrow paths have been forced on us at times, we've chosen the wide, smooth and comfortable road to live on.

I spent two weeks in Israel learning how to walk the narrow path, figuratively and literally. Now I'm back on Cardo Street. Do I stay there or do I make the adjustments necessary to live along the narrow path?

Even though it may be painful, let's pluck out the hooks of our culture's lures. Let us educate ourselves on how to serve our neighbor rather than how to get ahead of him. Let us enjoy the theater and the arts but fill our minds with only what is pure and holy. Let us replace our obsessive passion for sports with a passion for the text and a willingness to promote that passion within our children and friends. Finally, let us give ourselves over totally to God and deny ourselves. We cannot fully know him until we rely on him daily.

Our neighbors and friends on Cardo Street may not approve of our adjustments and certainly the devil himself will make the transition difficult. We have to drink deeply every day from God's Word and pray for God to give us feet to fit the path.