The narrow road.

In the story, Christian realizes he is living in the City of Destruction, with a heavy burden on his back. He can’t stay where he is and still reach the Celestial City. Jesus calls each of us to the same decision: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). You can’t borrow this from your parents’ faith, your pastor’s, or your friends’. “Each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). And Jesus never offered one road among many. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). So “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

On the way, Christian walks into Vanity Fair, a market full of things that compete for his heart. The danger isn’t only that they look good. It’s that they pull him off the road. We have our own: the pressure to be popular, social media, a relationship that keeps asking you to compromise, the fear of being different. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Paul asked it plainly: “Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). So “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Christian walks through dark valleys: fear, temptation, bad advice, doubt. He keeps going. Following Jesus doesn’t make life easy. You can love God and still be disappointed, pray and still face a hard day, obey Him and still be rejected. Jesus said so Himself: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). When you stumble, repent and get back up: “let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). And don’t walk it alone. Talk to a pastor, a leader, a godly friend.

At the end of the story, Christian reaches the Celestial City. The destination is what keeps him walking. Popularity fades, possessions don’t last, and the approval of people is temporary. “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Our “light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Paul’s answer: “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13–14).

Three small habits this week: read your Bible every day, tell the truth about the one thing you’re hiding, and stay close to a friend who takes Jesus seriously.