Love the Narrow Path: Meditations on the Straight and Narrow
After four months of writing, I have turned in a manuscript to Iron Stream Media four weeks ahead of deadline. The Lord has helped me greatly, answering my prayers by giving me insight to the Word and giving me endurance for the task. My previous book, In the Grip of God, is a work of biblical, historical fiction. Even though I had a lot of historical research to do, the novel seemed to be easier for me to write than this much shorter work of non-fiction. Not only does the work have to be biblical and theologically sound, it must be helpful and appealing to Christians who, for the most part, are doing their best to walk the straight and narrow way. It must also ring true in my own heart. As a result, I spent a lot of time in introspection and prayer. The work is built around the command of Jesus for us to enter the small gate and walk the narrow path (Matthew 7:12-14), put together with His teaching that every expectation for our conduct is fulfilled by loving God supremely and loving others sincerely (Matthew 22:35-40; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14), and doing unto others as we would have done to us (Luke 6:31). The love that the Bible speaks of is agapē, divine love, the kind of love that God has for humanity when He gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Agapē is a word from the Greek that defines, illuminates, and marks out the boundaries of the narrow path. I have coined it God-love. So, the theme of the book is God-love. In Love the Narrow Path, I have tried to examine every facet of this diamond called agapē.
There are 91 devotions of about 425 words each, 13 weeks of daily devotions. The entire manuscript came in at 40,200 words. Each devotion is accompanied by one to four verses of Scripture. The translations of the New Testament are mine. I wanted to use “God-love” extensively as the English equivalent for agapē and provide a more literal translation into vernacular English, even at the cost of a sometimes-awkward style. The Old Testament is quoted from the NASB which I consider to be the best of the modern translations. I do not yet have a schedule of editing or a launch date.
Love the Narrow Path came from my conviction that God-love is not only the answer to the Christian’s desire to please God, but the solution to most of the problems of the world.
George Cargill
Congratulations Pastor George. It sounds as if you have done it again. I look forward to the release of your latest treasure.