"The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost's most famous poem, is a microcosm of everyday lives. As you wake up each day and head down the paths of life, you'll come to a number of crossroads, and then you're left with a choice. Which fork should you take?

Some paths will be level, wellpacked, and easily trodden, making them the simple choice for a life of comfort, security, and ease. Those paths offer little challenge to travelers and are sure to never leave you sore or injured. Others will be inclined, rocky, and narrow. Those paths are precarious. They often leave you exhausted and lonely since so few seem willing to climb with you. Men, these are the paths that you must be willing to traverse — just as the Savior did.

Die to Self

Beaten, broken, bloodied, and bearing the weight of the cross, Jesus willingly climbed the long road to His death. He willingly walked that path and paved the way so that you might know how to follow Him. Jesus gave His life so that you could find life in Him.

Men, take up your crosses and walk the rough and rocky road, trusting in the One who went before you. Give of yourself until it hurts — and then give more. Fight the passivity and pride that plagues culture today, dying to yourself so that those around you may have life. Remember, level paths don't lead you to the mountaintop.

Wish for More

I'm convinced that, at the end of your life, after you've walked your final path, you'll never wish the journey had been easier. You'll not regret the cuts, bruises, twisted ankles, or sleepless nights as you climbed with only the Son as your guide. You'll wish that you'd been bold in the face of adversity and laughed in the face of comfort and convenience. You'll wish that you'd followed the Savior instead of the ways of the world.

It's my prayer and my passion that you might be able to look back on a life well-lived and say, as Frost did, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."

Follow the Road Less Travelled

1. Pray that God would provide you with boldness and strength as you follow Him in all circumstances. He must begin to uproot the selfishness and passivity in your heart before you'll ever be willing to truly follow Him.

2. Equip yourself and others around you with resources to encourage and energize you in your climb, such as 33 The Series or those found at authentic manhood.com. No good climber begins his trek without the proper tools.

3. Surround yourself with others willing to take this journey with you. The road less travelled can be lonely and difficult. It wasn't meant to be walked alone. (Read Ecclesiastes 4:12, Hebrews 10:24-25, and 1 John 3:16-18.)

4. Fight the temptation to take the path of least resistance. Nothing worth having comes easily.

5. Die to yourself each day, laying down your rights for the glory of God and the good of those around you. (Read Luke 9:23, 14:33.)

This article is courtesy of HomeLife Magazine.

John Bryson is the teaching pastor and co-founder of Fellowship Memphis, a multiethnic church ministering in Memphis, Tenn., and an executive board member of the international churchplanting network Acts 29.