The road to real and lasting success is long and winding. It’s a hard road with many difficulties and obstacles, the goal however is to reach the destination. But before you can get there, you will be tempted to take the path of least resistance; you’ll be tempted to take a shortcut. In the geographical world shortcuts are a good thing, but not in everyday life. It’s because of financial shortcuts that many are living strangled by debt. It’s because of relational shortcuts that so many marriages end in divorce. It’s because of shortcuts in parenting that so many children are living self-destructive lifestyles. And most importantly, it’s because of spiritual shortcuts that so many people do not receive the fullness of God’s blessing and promises to them.

For many of us the problem is not the destination, we want to attain success. The problem is the road is too long and we don’t want to wait. So, we look for shortcuts. It’s no mystery what it takes to become a successful student, long hours of studying. It’s no mystery what it takes in order to become financially stable. But we would rather find a way to play more and study less or we would rather find a way to spend more rather than to sacrifice and save more. Often times we choose the path of least resistance to achieve our goals. In other words, we want to do the right thing but the wrong way; we want to achieve success with the least amount of effort

“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God! —is vigorous and requires total attention.”  – Matthew 7:13 MSG

The problem with taking shortcuts is that at the end you always lose far more than you gained. Just imagine if you had not taken a shortcut in your education, or in your finances, or in your relationships, how much better would your life be today? When we choose to take a shortcut what we’re doing is short-circuiting the process that leads to success.

Before you can achieve your best and before you receive God’s promises and blessings you will be tempted to take a shortcut, to take the path of least resistance. But every time you do so you’ll always lose more than the time and sacrifices you avoided. I’m sure you already knew that, I’m sure you can tell me your own story about the price you’ve had to pay for taking shortcuts.