“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14 HCSB

It’s very easy to say, “I’m a Christian.” It’s not so easy to be one. In our Scripture passage for today, Jesus warns that we must be willing to go through the narrow gate. He goes on to warn that the gate is very narrow and the road is difficult that leads to life and few find it. Are you one of the few that has found it?

Sadly, there are many who think that because they are a good person they will get into heaven. There are many that follow false prophets and this can lead to destruction. There are many who believe that because God is a loving God they can just do whatever they want to do and He will overlook their sin and welcome them into heaven.

When we say we are a Christian, we are saying that we are a follower of Christ, we should not take this lightly. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. He goes on to say that whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Christ will find it.

When we deny ourselves, we are taking that first step through that narrow gate onto that narrow road. Denying ourselves means that we put what we want last. This is because we put what God wants first. We surrender to God and put Jesus first in our lives. We no longer lean to our own understanding, but we trust Him with all our heart and acknowledge Him in all we do (Proverbs 3:5-6). Now denying ourselves is not something we want to do, right? We want to do what we want when we want. We want to say what we want when we want. But denying ourselves literally means that we say “No” to what we want and we do it God’s way. When we are truly saved, we want to bring glory and honor and praise to Him. It’s no longer all about us. We are willing to walk with Christ through the hard times when we must carry that cross or be burdened for His sake and we know that as a result we will walk with Him in glory.

Many of us have an issue with submission or surrender. If you have been hurt by someone, you may have trust issues. Total surrender makes us vulnerable. We must realize that we can trust God and can completely surrender to Him. When we do this, He will take good care of us.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, we all want the easy life. We want to walk through the broad gate and be on the broad road. Narrow gates and narrow roads are more treacherous and not as easy to navigate. But I always say, “God doesn’t call us to do the easy stuff.” He called His own Son to come to earth and die on a cross to save miserable sinners like you and me.

If you have deceived yourself into thinking that because you are a good person or because you tithe every now and then or even bless the Lord with your presence in His house every now and then that this is good enough, be very careful. You are taking a big chance there. I know, I lived that way for years. I thought I was good enough. I thought my half-hearted, semi-obedient behavior was good enough. I was wrong.

I had to surrender, I had to give it all to Him. I had to go through the narrow gate. Sometimes the road is narrow and treacherous, but He walks beside me. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:22-23 that many will call to Him, Lord, Lord on judgment day. They will say, “Didn’t I prophesy in your name, and drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then Jesus said that he will respond to them, “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you.”

Right now, today, you need to decide if you are going to be one of the many or one of the few. It’s your choice. All I know, is that I finally wrapped my head around the fact that eternity is much longer than the brief time I will spend on this planet. This makes surrendering to Christ, taking that narrow road, and following Him a no-brainer.

Have a great day!