Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
ONE OF THE FEW
He knows the way you've taken;
Take charge, make a change,
If you're heading the wrong way.
He longs to be your Father;
Take cover, if you are lost,
Start again at Jesus' cross.
Take heart, God is love,
He lights The Way with His own Son;
Take chances, keep pressing on,
You'll start to love the path you're on.
He'll be watching at The Gate for you;
By God's grace you still can be one of the few.
J. E. Pollock
July 7, 2009
But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but it difficulty does not make us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and "it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" ( Philippians 2:13 ). But we have to "work out" that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God's grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
