“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.”  Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

If you have accepted Christ as your savior, you know that there are wonderful times and there are extremely hard times.  I often say that God never promised us a rose garden here on earth.  Our rewards are promised once we reach our final destination.

To get to our final destination though, we have to make a difficult choice.  We have to choose to enter through the narrow gate.  Now I don’t  know about you, but when I am traveling I try to take the shortest, quickest, easiest route.  If I can choose between a nice wide interstate or highway as opposed to a narrow country road, I am more apt to choose the wide open highway or interstate.  As we travel through this life, we must make a choice.  We can choose to accept Christ as our savior and enter through the narrow gate or we can follow the vast crowd through the wide gate.

Now should we choose to enter through the narrow gate, this scripture passage clearly tells us that “the way is hard”.  Jesus is telling them here that they should enter by the narrow gate but that it will not make their life easy.  Following God is not easy but it is so rewarding.

I find the last statement in this scripture passage a bit sad, “those who find it are few”.  It is so easy to follow the crowd.  It is much easier to just do what everyone else does.  I can remember my parents asking me “if your best friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”  As you go through life, often times the answer to that question is going to be yes.  Many of us fall into sin or stay in sin because we associate with sinners like ourselves.  We enter through the wide gate and follow the crowd instead of trying to lead others to Christ.   What we should do is find a good Bible teaching church and surround ourselves with sinners like us that are trying to do better. See the church is full of sinners.  We have all sinned and we all continue to sin, but that doesn’t make our lives hopeless.  If we trust in Christ, we can confess our sin, repent and be forgiven.

The hardest part about walking through that narrow gate is that everyday and sometimes many times a day, you are faced with those two gates and you are forced to make that choice.  Just because you choose to enter the narrow gate today doesn’t mean that the devil won’t try to steer you back through the wide gate tomorrow.

This is why the scripture says that the way is hard.  We must constantly pray and ask God to refill our hearts with the Holy Spirit.  We must stay in God’s word.  And if you want to make the way just a bit easier, surround yourself with good Christian friends.  Accept the fact that no one is perfect and we are all going to make mistakes. I’ve often heard it said, “Christians aren’t perfect,  just forgiven”.

As you go through today, be prepared to be one of the few that finds that narrow gate and enters it.  Also be prepared for the fact that the way will be hard.  You will encounter many obstacles. The Bible tells us that with God all things are possible.  I have learned that I would much rather go through hard times with God than without Him.

If  you have not committed your life to God, what are you waiting for?  Yes, the way is hard, but the rewards are more awesome than we can even imagine.  Remember our life is a marathon, not a sprint.  Anything worth having is worth waiting and working for.

My former pastor used to say that if we go to hell, we go as trespassers.  You see, God never intended for any of his children to go to hell.  He intended it to be a place for satan and his followers.  But because God gives us the freedom to choose, sadly many choose to follow the crowd through the wide gate that leads to destruction.

It is my prayer for you today that you will enter the narrow gate,  the passageway that brings you into close relationship with Jesus Christ.  Stay close to Him and trust in Him to bring you through the hard times.  God loves each and everyone of us.  He gave His Son to die on the cross so that none of us should perish, but have eternal life in glory with Him.

Commit to Him, you won’t be sorry that you did.  Have a great day!