“How Narrow the Gate” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)

“How Narrow the Gate” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 7:13-14 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England.

“For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant, and from Mount Zion, survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.” (2 Kings 19:31)

God upholds his city forever. (Psalm 48:9)

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Piety

Yes there are two paths you can go by/But in the long run/There’s still time to change the road you’re on. (“Stairway to Heaven,” Jimmy Page and Robert Plant)

Study

Let’s be honest: The gate is as narrow as we want it to be.

Even when we know that wonderfully broad, nuanced road that beckons with so many charms ends in nothing but spiritual disaster, we still are tempted to check it out… just for a little while. It’s so much easier than constant vigilance, because who among us doesn’t find lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, or pride beckoning us each and every day, sometimes in very, very attractive packages? The road that lies beyond the wide gate invites us to be the lords and masters of ourselves. For example, how about lust? What’s so wrong about flirting, if it doesn’t lead to anything physical? What’s so wrong with watching the walk of someone we find attractive, if it doesn’t lead to an invitation that could embarrass us? What’s so wrong with letting a hug linger just a second too long, if it doesn’t lead to anything other than a fantasy? What’s so wrong with… and so it goes on—except that we are spectacularly bad at honoring our own limits, even worse than at honoring God’s.

Once we commit to that narrow gate, the road beyond it doesn’t magically widen to include all our earthly desires. In fact, often there’s barely room to put one foot in front of the other. It can feel like a tightrope over Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon, something that requires our undivided attention to navigate safely. Yes, the Lord is always there to catch us, always ready to help us back up, if that is our desire. But He doesn’t always seem like the most exciting option.

And so, the choice is ours: prepare ourselves to live with Him forever by entering that narrow gate and all the restrictions we know it involves. Or, wander about the road more traveled, setting our own course for our time on earth.

The choice is easy. Right?

Action

Make a list of the temptations that make the narrow gate unattractive. Pray for the strength to surrender one of them today.