Matthew 7:14-15 - 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.
I've been in the church life long enough to be able to somewhat understand "Christian-speak". We Christians have our own language, for those of you who don't know. We use words like "fellowship" which really just means: church folk like an excuse to eat :) or "the lost" which can really mean anything at all-from those who don't go to church, go to church but don't know Jesus or know Jesus but seem to have lost Him. One thing we are really good at as well is using scripture to makes ourselves feel better and others feel worse (more "lost"?). We take it out of context and bend it to suit ourselves. What if we took a good, long, hard look at what Jesus is really saying to us? This is what I have been doing with the scripture above.
As I have heard as long as I've been a Christian (10 years or so), parts of this verse are used to make someone feel better about choosing the way that few can find. Some Christians proudly say, "Few find the narrow path to God", with the implication that they have found it. And I wonder about that.....
I've been going through a rough time lately...not ouch, I stubbed my toe bad time...but heart and soul and gut wrenching rough time. As most people do during difficult times, I have cried to God, yelled at Him, pleaded with Him and tried to bargain with Him. And this verse just kept floating around in my head.....stubborn me, it took me a while to realize God was trying to tell me something. So I looked up the whole verse (actually the whole chapter) to see what He might be saying.
First I started by trying to compare these gates or paths to something I can relate to. I thought of going to Mammoth Caves with my dad when I was younger. We stood at the bottom of what looked like a mountain to me :), with the choice of two paths.....one was paved, flat, easy and led to a well known "safe" cave. The other was barely noticible, just a little smidge of a line through the forest. It led to a lesser known cave. Dad and I were up for an adventure, so we chose the little "non-path" path. We fell down a lot, in fact I slid about halfway down this "mountain" and we had to start all over again. We were bruised, sore and cranky when we reached the cave. And it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was beautiful, there were tons of stalagmites and stalagtites that hadn't been worn down from years of being touched. Everything seemed to sparkle :) then we found a cave lake and got to see the cave fish that had no eyes! At 11 years old, this was really the most incredible thing I had ever seen. Neither one of us even remembered the rough way we had getting there. It was worth it and I would do it again.
The gate is narrow and the way is hard.....the way is hard......the way is hard. Finding this narrow gate is NOT what Jesus says is hard. He says the way is hard, the road you follow after finding the narrow gate is HARD. So, why then as Christians are we so shocked when the way is hard?
And why, as Christians, do we gloat to others in trouble, that our way is easy, better, fun etc? Jesus said, the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction! If your life is a little too easy, check and see which road you're on!
God is and continues to conform me to the image of His son. Jesus' way was hard here on this earth. He worked hard as a carpenter, he was mocked, tempted, beaten, betrayed, denied and killed. If I have truly decided to follow Him, to live a life fully devoted to becoming Christ-like, that means I've found the narrow gate and the way WILL be hard. Why would it be anything less?
God is not interested in my comfort, He is interested in my soul, my love, my life and my salvation. He is interested in seeing me live the most full and abundant life I can here on earth. He is interested in how I show others His love. None of those things are easy to achieve.....so the way will be hard.......
And I know when I get to the end of the road, it will be amazing! It will be worth it.
