In the similitude of a dream, John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, a religious allegory of a man named Christian who searches for the road that will lead him to the Celestial City as he flees the City of Destruction.

Published in 1684, the novel is populated with personified virtues that assist Christian on his journey. The first is Evangelist, who points Christian in the right direction. Other virtues assisting Christian are Help, Good Will, Hopeful, Faithful, Charity, Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere.

Christian encounters personified vices that try to turn him from his righteous pursuit; among them are Fear, Worldly-Wiseman, the Giant Despair, Envy, No-Good, Malice, High-Mind, Enmity, Ignorance, Sloth, Mistrust, Timorous, Presumption and Hypocrisy.

Friends and family challenge Christian's decision to pursue his journey in search of "Life, life, eternal life," and put him to bed "hoping that sleep might settle his brains." However, Christian is determined to go to the Celestial City where he will find "an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

His perilous journey takes him through places such as the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of Ease, the River of Death, the Castle of Doubt and a town called Vanity Fair. After he becomes mired in the Slough of Despond, Help pulls him out.

With the slough's dirt still clinging to him, Christian meets Worldly-Wiseman, who persuades him to follow what he says is an easier path. Christian sets out on it, only to discover it goes by a hill so high that it threatens to topple over on him. Evangelist approaches and says that he had directed Christian to "the little Wicket Gate ... at which, when thou knockest, it shall be told thee what thou shalt do. ... How is it then that thou art so quickly turned aside, for thou art now out of the way?"

Christian replies that Worldly-Wiseman, who "looked like a gentleman ... persuaded me to yield; so I came hither."

Evangelist tells Christian that Worldly-Wiseman is rightly named because his doctrine is that of the world and his mission is to turn Christian away from the Celestial City, to "render the Cross (the Atonement) odious to thee," and set Christian's feet "in the way that leadeth unto the administration of death" (John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1987).

Although John Bunyan wrote this allegory more than three centuries ago, we can readily see that some of the points he made are quite up to date. Without doubt, Bunyan was inspired by the Lord's declaration that "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14).

One of the lessons taught in Bunyan's allegory is that we must not be deterred by those who would hinder us in our pursuit, even if they are family and friends, and those who espouse the philosophies of "wise" men and worldly pursuits. Some would tell us that we are foolish or that the path we are following requires too much sacrifice and is much too difficult. They would guide us to what they claim are easier paths. Once upon those paths, however, we would find that we are "so quickly turned aside" from our eternal goal.

The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round" (Doctrine and Covenants 3:2).

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve said that even though the Lord's teachings are plain and direct, "we are still at risk of getting sidetracked. Some people choose to follow the teachings of the Lord and of His living prophet only when convenient, but reject them when sacrifice or deeper commitment is required. Some fail to follow only because His divine teachings do not agree with their own preconceived notions.

"We get sidetracked by submitting to temptations that divert us past the bounds of safety. Satan knows our weaknesses. He puts attractive snares on our paths at just those moments when we are most vulnerable. His intent is to lead us from the way that returns us to our Heavenly Father" (October 1990 general conference; Ensign, November 1990, p. 64).

We must walk uprightly before the Lord and keep His laws and commandments if we hope to find our way to eternal life. The Lord has promised the faithful: "... if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7).