“The Narrow Gate” By Melanie Rigney
“I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for
the sake of my servant David.” (2 Kings 19:34)
God upholds his city for ever. (Psalm 48:9d)
“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
Jesus, humble me, that I might walk through the narrow gate.
Study
A 2017 study found that the more entitled people
are, the less likely they are to follow instructions. The reason, according to
the Cornell University and Harvard Medical School, authors, appeared to be that
people with a higher sense of entitlement don’t follow rules they think are
unfair.
And let’s be honest. A whole lot of what Jesus preached
didn’t sound fair to the people of the time, and they don’t sound fair to us.
Love those who hate you?
Put God above your own family?
Give up everything you have and follow? Really, everything?
Small wonder that they and we so often fail to follow His
instructions. Will it really matter if we don’t care for the ill, house the
homeless, feed the starving, love the unlovable?
Well, yes.
The more we have, it seems sometimes, the more likely we are
to believe we deserve to keep it, and get more. The more we have, it seems
sometimes, the less likely we are to give it up, in a meaningful way, anyway.
The more we have, it seems sometimes, the less likely we are interested in the
abstract in the constricted road and the narrow gate.
The broad road is easier. It beckons us with earthly
pleasures.
There’s only one thing to keep in mind.
Destruction and eternal isolation are on the other side of
that wide gate.
Action
Focus on staying on the constricted road entirely for fifteen
minutes today. Try a half-hour tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment