Narrow

Luke 13:24 NLT Strive to enter through the narrow door of God’s kingdom.

Before we could hold a GPS in our hand, directions consisted of a series of landmarks, some obvious, some not so much. Arriving safely at the destination often included using unknown roads and making quick decisions at the unexpected fork in the road. Today a GPS setting lets us pre-determine the type of roads we will use, choosing the wide and smooth highways or the scenic and narrow country roads. Choosing the right road for life’s travels is key to our walk with God.

In Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus sat down and preached what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. The message was different from the traditional synagogue message based on the Laws of Moses and was unike anything the people had ever heard. Jesus was describing what it looks like to live as His follower and to be part of the kingdom of God. He made it clear that His followers are to live in a noticeably different way than other people, holding to a much higher standard than even the Law required -- the standard was of love, surrender and selflessness.

Toward the end of the message, Jesus states “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 NIV). Jesus was telling the crowd that following him was not just about keeping a set of rules but about choices. And the most important was chosing the gate we would enter and the road we would travel. In John 10:9 He makes it clear, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” Most of us don’t like the narrow places of life, those times and places where life seems to press in from all sides and escape routes are non-existent. We gravitate toward the seemingly easy and wide places in life where choices abound. But Jesus is once again calling us to lay down our lives, our personal agendas, and follow him onto the narrow road to find life and life more abundantly.

Thousands of years before DreamWorks and Shrek, God used Balaam and his donkey to provide a living illustration to the narrow way. In Numbers 11, Balaam was hired by the Moabite king to curse the Israelites. This was obviously not pleasing to God, and He sent an angel to speak with Balaam and change the direction of his life. In the first encounter the angel positioned himself in a broad place. (Num 11:22-23) When the donkey saw the angel, he simply veered off the road into the field and continued on its way. In the next two encounters the angel stood in the narrow place where “there was no way to turn to the right or the left” (Num 11:24-26). It was in that narrow place that the angel of the Lord revealed himself to Balaam and forever changed his life and the Israelites.

The “small gate and narrow way that leads to life” is not to limit the people that can enter but to provide a place for a real encounter with God the Father. It is in the narrow places in life where we see Him for who He really is. It is there He shows Himself as God our Healer (Exodus 15:26), God our Provider (Genesis 22:13–14), and God our Defender (Psalm 18:2). Luke 13:24 tells us to ‘strive’ to enter the narrow door. The word ‘strive’ represents entering a sporting event to win, contending with adversaries, endeavoring with great zeal. In other words, doing it with all our heart.

Do you find yourself in one of life’s narrow places? Instead of fighting it; surrender, look up, and see the angel of the Lord. God is in the narrow place and wants to make himself know to you.

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Gary and Sandy Anthony

Jeremiah 6:16 GNT Thus says the Lord, “stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 TPT All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us. And just as we experience the abundance of Christ’s own sufferings, even more of God’s comfort will cascade upon us through our union with Christ.

Lamentations 3:25 AMPC The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him.

Matthew 7:7-8 NLT Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Proverbs 16:25 AMP There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but its end is the way of death.

John 14:6 NLT Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Isaiah 55:6-9 AMP Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Leave behind your ways and your thoughts and return to the Lord. He will have compassion and mercy on you, and will abundantly pardon your sins. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Proverbs 9:6 TPT Lay aside your simple thoughts and leave your paths behind. Agree with my ways, live in my truth, and you will find righteousness.

Galatians 5:24-25 NLT Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

Ephesians 2:1,4-5 NLT In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!

Matthew 6:33-34 TPT So above all, constantly seek God’s kingdom  and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

John 12:24-25 TPT Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces  a great harvest of wheat—all because one grain  died. The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever!