“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
This seems obvious -the vast majority of people just take the cultural path of least resistance; most people live without considering how or why they live the way they do and believe the things they believe. Over a hundred years ago, Thoreau made the observation that the vast majority of men lead lives of quiet desperation. A sad statement, but clearly true.
The path of Life, is difficult to find, and takes commitment to walk. As with all spiritual reality, simple -as in easy to understand, yet difficult -as in impossible to do apart from God. What Jesus is talking about is not just for the heathen and the pagans. Sadly, most Christians assume they have found the narrow path, while at the same time continuing to lead the same lives they have always led, walking the same path they have always walked. Their minds are consumed with worldly politics (as if our hope is in kings and presidents and congressmen), and their agendas are centered around making money and accumulating material possessions (as if God cares about what kind of cars we drive or how big our television sets are).
In another place, Jesus made the comment that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. His disciples asked, "Then how can anyone enter the Kingdom -that is impossible." Jesus said, "With God, all things are possible." Understand that Jesus did not say or even imply that with God all things are easy -only that they are possible.
The way is narrow and difficult to find -but not impossible. So, the question of the day has to be, how do we find it? It is clearly not just a matter of going to church and sitting under the right preacher and reading Scripture and being religious. That stuff is all easy to do. Anyone can do that. So, what does it mean to find the narrow path? How do we get on it? How do we stay on it?
I believe (again, as with all spiritual reality) it begins with motivations of the heart. Way back in the book of Deuteronomy (I think chapter 4) God told the Israelites, "If you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him, if you seek Him with all of your heart and all of your soul." In Proverbs 8:17, God says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." Then again in Jeremiah 29:13 God says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart."
So, here is the deal -and it is the same deal for everyone. God doesn't cut different deals for different people -easier for some and harder for others. At the foot of the cross, we all stand on equal ground. We find God (and the narrow road of Life) when we are desperate enough to seek him with all of our hearts and all of our souls. And when we are in that desperate place, an exchange is made. We surrender everything we were -including plans, agendas, hopes and dreams -for who God wants us to be. Surrender is simple, but not easy. Yet, surrender is required. The exchange must be made. This is the entrance to the narrow road.
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