Enter through the narrow gate.
Beyond religion, there is an encounter with a real and living being who is the son of God that confronts each one of us with this call to leave our old life behind and to enter into His life! Today I'm asking you to leave behind the denial of brokenness and perhaps the fear of non-commitment. This is beyond religion, its beyond church, its beyond Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian or anything else; this is all about the purpose of Jesus' life!
Jesus said something very scary in Matthew 7:13-14, and as your Shepard, I am not only obligated to share this with you, but I am praying that you and I would all wake up and hear the seriousness of this warning. If on 9/10, before 9/11, if we could have had the plans of what was going to happen, things would have been very very different!
Jesus today, is telling us a reality of an impending catastrophe so that each one of us can avoid it. He said, "Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction…" Now, again, this is Jesus Christ speaking, He is telling us that destruction is imminent and that most people are going to experience it. "But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it."
Now this is not what Jesus wants to happen, it is what will happen if we don't listen to what He has to say. If we listen to what He has to say, then we can avoid it. Its like when Jonah was preaching to Nineveh, (Jonah 3) he just walked through this city and he said "Forty days and the city will parish!" Well, why would God send Jonah to say that? So that it wouldn't parish; and it didn't! In the same way, Jesus has sent His Word to our hearts and lives so that we can avoid the destruction that is coming in eternity.
You see, receiving Jesus is the starting line of life! It doesn't start when you graduate from high school, it doesn't start when you get married, it doesn't start when you get your first pay check or promotion or more money. The starting line of life is when you make the choice to give up your life and to receive Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior.
Jesus said something very scary in Matthew 7:13-14, and as your Shepard, I am not only obligated to share this with you, but I am praying that you and I would all wake up and hear the seriousness of this warning. If on 9/10, before 9/11, if we could have had the plans of what was going to happen, things would have been very very different!
Jesus today, is telling us a reality of an impending catastrophe so that each one of us can avoid it. He said, "Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction…" Now, again, this is Jesus Christ speaking, He is telling us that destruction is imminent and that most people are going to experience it. "But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it."
Now this is not what Jesus wants to happen, it is what will happen if we don't listen to what He has to say. If we listen to what He has to say, then we can avoid it. Its like when Jonah was preaching to Nineveh, (Jonah 3) he just walked through this city and he said "Forty days and the city will parish!" Well, why would God send Jonah to say that? So that it wouldn't parish; and it didn't! In the same way, Jesus has sent His Word to our hearts and lives so that we can avoid the destruction that is coming in eternity.
You see, receiving Jesus is the starting line of life! It doesn't start when you graduate from high school, it doesn't start when you get married, it doesn't start when you get your first pay check or promotion or more money. The starting line of life is when you make the choice to give up your life and to receive Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior.
It can't be religion, it can't be you in charge, it can't be arrogance or pride, it has to be change! It has to be God literally coming to live inside of us, and rearranging our priorities. It has to be God literally plugging leaks in our heart, and filling us up with Himself! If we want to be saved and have eternal life, then we have to start following Jesus into a changed life! -Dr. Drew Shofner
