Narrow

“Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”  He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Luke 13:22-24

“Enter 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

I’ve been struggling with these passages over the past few days. I’ve heard them before, but for the first time I realized that when Jesus speaks of the gate to Heaven, he says that it is narrow and only a few will get in. For some reason I felt a bit unsettled by this. Exactly what does Jesus mean by this?

As I studied, I came to understand that the number of people that get into Heaven isn’t really the point. Even if I knew, what good would that information do me? I still need to live for Christ regardless of how many people are going to Heaven. I like what one commentary said:

Jesus intends his words to jar us from complacency, to consider the genuineness of our commitment to him.

The point is to make sure that my commitment to Him is genuine because following Him isn’t a casual thing. Lot’s of people in Jesus day considered themselves religious and these were the “many” that Jesus was referring to. I think we have a similar issue in America. I’ve heard Charlie say before that one of the best lies Satan has ever sold is the idea that if you’re an American you’re a Christian.

But again, the point isn’t to point out “religious” people. It is to make sure that I’m serious about my relationship with God. I think I’m coming to a new, deeper understanding of what this means. Especially in regards to serving and caring for the poor. But that could be an entire post. I think The Message says it well:

He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’ Luke 13:22-25

May I never assume salvation because I “hang around the neighborhood.” May Christ’s teaching flow out of my life in every direction.

~ by Dave on August 13, 2006.