“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
What lies beyond the narrow gate
Please read the introduction to this section from Friday. Jesus desires we receive the fullness of life that He paid for on our behalf. But He lived the life of a man, and He knows how hard it is and that most of us will falter. He just finished explaining how to receive the fullness of life, but immediately afterwards he warns that most will not achieve this.
One of the beautiful things about God is that He’s made it so easy for us to come to Him. However, many accept Him, but never go much further. It is easy to get off course. If we do go a little further, we can experience, in very real ways, how present and powerful He is in our lives…and then we can go off course. It is extremely hard to maintain singular focus on following Jesus and not get distracted by this world. But if we don’t, we do not enter the narrow gate. We will not experience the true Kingdom life that He calls us to.
Kingdom life is a much greater life available to us if we are willing to sacrifice all that glitters in this world and seek after Him. Anything in this world can pull us from God. Even a good thing. Is there something in your life keeping you from the fullness of what He has for you?
Do you remember the ecstasy when you first experienced the love of God? Has it faded? There is much more of this. True Life! for those who are willing to sacrifice all and seek Him. This is the highest calling on our life, to enter His Kingdom to such a degree that while everything in the world shakes around us, we are confidently walking with Him (which we’ll discuss later this week). It’s not just this life that is better when we follow Him through the narrow gate, but the next. We spoke a week ago about the treasures in Heaven that we can accumulate for ourselves and Jesus will end this sermon with this same wonderful truth – that we can actually increase the blessings that we enjoy forever by laying that foundation now with the way that we live this life.
Do you agree or disagre? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this….
