Narrow Gate

“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."

When I lived in Washington State there was a 15 mile paved trail near my house that I would frequently ride on. The Foothills Trail was used by walkers, runners, skateboarders, inline skaters, and of course, cyclists, but was restricted to any kind of motorized vehicles. In an effort to enforce this, whenever the trail crossed a road there were three large metal posts, one at either side and one in the middle of the paved trail. The posts were placed close enough together to prevent a car or an ATV from entering the path.

This was not a problem when I was riding on my own. However, sometimes I would pull my grandson in a trailer behind my bike. The trailer was wide enough to hold two children, and the wheels of the trailer would barely fit between the two posts. As a result, whenever I came to a street, I would have to slow way down and carefully thread my way between the two posts so as to not hit them with the trailer, which would have been disastrous for both me and my grandson.

I thought of this experience as I read Jesus' words above from Matthew 7:13-14. In fact, I thought in particular about Luke's account of Jesus' words. Luke quoted Jesus in this way: "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." The Greek word for "make every effort" is "agonizesthe". It's the root of our English word "agonize."

Jesus said that many would try to enter the narrow door and would be unable to. Why? I envision a problem similar to the trailer on the back of my bike that caused me to "agonize" each time I passed between those posts for fear of hitting them. Some people want to enter into eternal life, but they do not want to repent of the sin in their lives. They think they can hang on to their sin and continue in it, yet somehow still be saved. But the only road we can travel while holding on to our sin is the broad road that leads away from God and toward destruction.

Others think that the way to enter eternal life is to show up at the narrow door laden with all the good works and kind deeds they have ever done, as though these will be their "ticket" to heaven. Instead, those good works in which they place their trust become a "wide load" that prevents them from passing through the narrow gate. Rather, we need to come to the narrow door empty handed, repenting of our sin, and trusting only in Jesus to save us. Then He will throw open the gates to heaven and welcome us in.

So don't waste time agonizing over whether you're "good enough" to go to heaven. Instead, agonize over your sin in heartfelt repentance. Then put your faith in Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Trusting in Him, you will find that one narrow road that leads to life, and by His grace spend eternity in heaven.