Devotion #3: Exclusive
Lesson Five: The Gate and The Path
Karsen Theede
Exclusive, limited, select, premier, and private: these are words we love to see and hear in our everyday lives. Whether it is a shirt, where the only difference between it and the store brand is the name of the brand that made it, or how every fall, pumpkin spice is only here for a limited time and you had better get it before it is gone. Even news stations or media outlets will pride themselves on having the most exclusive scoops and will do anything to make sure they have the newest and most exclusive news. As humans, we love the idea of having something that others do not, except when it comes to our lifestyle.
As a church, we are in the midst of our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount. For nine weeks, we have been reading through Matthew chapter 7 and taking a look at what it says for believers. Today, I have the privilege of focusing on Matthew 7:13-14.
Matthew 7:13-14 says, “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.”
What Matthew is talking about here is our eternity and how we have to live to reach it. The world is going to tell us a lot of different ways to reach eternity in Heaven, if they even agree that there is a Heaven. The world will say, “Live how you want, it is your life,” or “Do whatever, as long as you try to be a good person. Hold the door open for someone every once in a while, and that is your ticket to Heaven.” However, that thought process is the wide gate, the easy way, and ultimately the path that does not lead to Heaven but to destruction and an eternity away from Jesus.
What about the narrow gate, the one we should enter? How do we start down this path? The first step is to accept Christ into your life. Once you have accepted Christ into your life, whether that was today or 50 years ago, you are called to live a changed life. It is a life that is different from those who are on the wide path. We are to live an “exclusive” life, but according to Matthew chapter 7, this path will not be easy. We are going to look at the people on the wide path, and we might think that we want what they have or want to be able to do what they do. Yes, this will be hard, but unlike the wide road that ends in destruction, the narrow path leads to life, eternal life in Heaven with Christ. So, walk the narrow path and seek an exclusive and Christ-centered life. That is where our reward lies.