By David ReayThursday 21 Jul 2016LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Matthew 7:13-14
13-14 “Go in by the narrow gate. For the wide gate has a broad road which leads to disaster and there are many people going that way. The narrow gate and the hard road lead out into life and only a few are finding it.” (JBP)
There is an old saying that goes like this: “He who marries the spirit of the age will soon become a widower”. In other words, going along with popular opinion is not the way to ultimate security.
One of the dangers we face in sharing our faith is that we can make it so appetising to our target audience that it loses its essential truth. We water it down and popularise it in such a way as to distort it to suit what people want. Jesus warns against this repeatedly, including this statement in our text.
He is not really making some sort of mathematical calculation as to how many will be in heaven. It seems there may be few but elsewhere we read of multitudes. Numbers are all relative anyway. His point is that following him is not a piece of cake. It may not be the most popular way, the easiest way. People may reject it, misunderstand it, even despise it.
But Jesus’ way leads to life whereas the other has no future at all beyond this life. Going along with the crowd gets us nowhere. Following the elite opinion shapers of our day might win us popularity but lose us eternal life.
And even more sobering, it seems there are only two ways—no middle way.
Blessings
David Reay