The Narrow Gate

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 NLT

Thank the good Lord that he is speaking of a spiritual gate. I don’t think I would be going through any narrow anything right now, I have yet to accomplish that through Christ. Nevertheless this passage leads us to a very serious matter, our perception of the narrow gate. Today our perception is blinded by the immorality of our nation and the tolerance of things that are in opposition of Christ. In the book of Luke someone had asked Christ how many would be saved, and he replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.” OK if that doesn’t hit you lets go back to Genesis in the days of Noah. In those days the entire world was evil. God was so angry that he made plan to destroy all that he created, all except Noah, his wife, his children, their wives, and of course two of every kind of animal. Granted the world was not as populated as it is today, but the whole world was evil with the exception of Noah and his family. God had made a covenant with his people that he would never flood the Earth again, but naturally evil has found its way back into mainstream daily life. The reason God had spared Noah was because he had walked through the narrow gate. He lived a life worthy of Gods Blessings. The world’s ways are not Gods ways, so the world tends to turn its back on those who choose to turn to Christ. The road to hell is paved with half truths. The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg). Many times we tend to justify our faults, sins, or even our way of thinking. The Lord will hold us accountable for every thought, word, and deed we have done; unless we have confessed and repented. Galatians 5:19-25 tells us, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Then he goes on to say “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Are we walking the path to the narrow gate by being obedient to God and living under his yoke, or are we on the path to death by being of the world and our own selfish desires?