“A road will be there and a way; it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path. Fools will not wander on it. There will be no lion there, and no vicious beast will go up on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk on it, and the ransomed of the LORD will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee” (Isaiah 35.8-10).

This road leads to Zion or Jerusalem. It is termed the Holy Way because only holy ones will travel on it. These are people who are rescued and redeemed by Jesus Christ. Unclean, morally perverse people will not wander on the Holy Way because they are unholy. The nations of redeemed peoples will stream to Jerusalem and find unending joy and gladness there.

Our lives are not always joyful. We are redeemed, but we still sin and find only heartache and sorrow. The moral perversity and unholiness around us makes it difficult for us to travel the narrow way. Still, despite our failings, we belong to God. Our practice may not reflect our position. However, our position never changes. We are children of God, but we don’t always reflect that privileged position the way we should. This is true of all of us. That’s why believers need one another. We need fellow travelers on the Holy Way.

Until the day when we are fully rescued from the presence of sin, we battle. Growth in holiness today comes down to God-dependent choices we make on a moment by moment basis. If we love the Lord Jesus, we must keep His commands. We must do as He has done to us. We must love God supremely and others as we love ourselves. 

The Holy Way leads to unending joy and gladness. While I believe there will be a literal way that leads to Jerusalem in the future, I also believe that we are able to negotiate a path of holiness even now. God doesn’t leave us on a path toward death and the grave. He will not allow us to simply end in decay. He reveals the path of life to us; in His presence is abundant joy; at His right hand are eternal pleasures (Psalm 16.11).