“Enter in through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
We live in a time when pretty much anything goes. Even in many of our churches we back off what we believe the Bible teaches and refuse to teach on Scripture that contains hard teachings. We’ve dumbed down our classrooms so anyone can ‘succeed’ and we’ve dumbed down our faith so anyone can participate. This “narrow gate” referred to in Matthew is not taught about very often. Is it because we don’t know what the gate is? Or is it because we have not found it ourselves? Is it hidden? Or do we just not want to see it because we don’t like what it takes to get through it? Do we believe there is life on the other side of this gate? Or do we think we have all the life we need without going there?
Moses knew his time was short. He delivered one last address to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach… the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it… See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess… This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:11; 14-16; 19-20
Maybe the problem is that we have wrongly defined life and prosperity! Maybe the reason we miss the gate is because we have so many things we carry with us that we call life and prosperity that we are sure that isn’t the right gate because we can’t fit through it.
Many interpret this narrow gate as being “Salvation.” Say the 'sinner’s prayer' and through the gate you go. I struggle with this because I see so many people who after dong this are still carrying around a lot of baggage and nothing really changes for them. They still are not ‘living’ but rather they are going through the motions of life. Get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed. Second verse, the same as the first. A little bit louder and a whole lot worse. They are looking forward to retirement when they can ‘vacation’ away the rest of their life. Somehow, I’m not sure they went through the narrow gate.
Matthew follows this teaching with Jesus’ words, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit… Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:15-17; 20-21
I wonder if the narrow gate is ‘wisdom’. Wisdom comes from spending time with God, seeking him and following after him with our whole being – doing his will. When we ‘wise up’ we find that we don’t need to carry around everything we hold on to so tightly because he is faithful to provide for us anything we need. As we drop all the baggage, we find we can fit through that narrow gate that we thought was just a crack in the wall the first time we went by. And when we let go of everything, we find freedom and real life on the other side. Our fruit we bear is not bank accounts and IRA’s, but rather witnessing to what Christ has done for us and giving to the poor and needy and helping those who are in distress. As I read through the Bible, so many encounters with God are regarding caring for the widows, the fatherless, the poor, and seeking justice for those who are wronged. As we get close to God’s heart, those things become important to us as well.
I wonder if the reason it is so hard to get through the gate is that we are so slow to let go of ‘things’ and ‘mind-sets’ so that we can be free to accept what Christ offers – everything we need to navigate this life and join him in the next! We need to redefine ‘life’ so we can see the gate that takes us there. Yes, admitting we have sinned and fall short of his glory and accepting the grace he offers us through Jesus’ Christ is the first step. But if we are really going the whole way in, we are in for some big changes in our lives. Surprisingly, if we are willing, we feel lighter and experience more freedom as we let go of all the things we held on to so tightly before. In fact, we might wonder why we thought we needed them so badly.
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