The Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”  (Matthew 7:13-14)

Did God make the gate narrow and constrict the road that leads to life so that only a few can have eternal life? No, he didn’t. God desires all of us to be with Him. That was his original plan. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us, “He chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” (1:4-6) He chose us before he even formed the world and out of love destined us to be with him. We are the ones who have messed up His plan because of our sinfulness. We turned our back on Him yet his desire is the same, he wants us to be with Him. He gave us his Son so that “in him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8)

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”  Just think if we all followed this one rule that Jesus has instructed us to follow. If we would just pause for a moment before we speak and ask ourselves, would I want someone to say this about me?  Even if it is true, Jesus tells us to go approach one another with love.  Jesus didn’t condone the woman caught in adultery but he did address the issue with love and compassion for her. And he made those self-righteous men, that were going to stone her, aware of their own sinfulness. In yesterday’s gospel Jesus tells us to “stop judging!” Just think how much better this world would be if we followed that rule! It is so much easier to judge others because then it takes the focus off of us. It is sometimes painful to look at ourselves, to be honest about our own brokenness and sinfulness.

These are the things that constrict the road that leads to life, our pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, idolatry, lust, envy and the list goes on and on. But through Christ’s death and resurrection we have been cleansed by his blood and are given the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may die to our desires of the flesh. We are called to bear the image of Jesus Christ in everything that we do. We are called to live a life of holiness and to help one another to do the same so that we may all enjoy eternal life with our King just as He intended it to be.