The way of destruction accommodates many individuals; however, the way that leads to life is selective.The way of destruction has a low standard and is low maintenance. Minimal effort and exertion are required and it is accessible. The wide gate places no demand on the one going through it. Many companions are found in the destructive way, ensuring that solitude is a foreign concept. The difficult way is challenging, not impossible to find. The narrow gate selects and determines what can come along with us on the journey to the difficult way. It requires one to be lightweight. This is why the Lord purges our conscience of dead works and repentance is a way of life in this way. Agreements with the enemy are shut out and we walk circumspectly to avoid getting entangled with anything that will make us lose our footing.Heb 12:1 says we are to lay aside every weight which means burden (weight). If it hinders us it is weight that should be set aside.
Only the Holy Spirit can determine what this weight is. Many may say what they are accommodating in their life is not necessarily “weight” because they find it pleasurable and even destressing. Nevertheless, it is an observable fact that sin offers a transient pleasure. It is often most difficult to relinquish those elements which the Holy Spirit must excise, for they are frequently rooted in our affections.
We are naturally inclined or predisposed to love what the Lord hates. It is only when the Holy Spirit works in us to hate what He hates do we come into agreement with Him. The narrow gate makes it difficult to find the way that leads to life on account of many wanting to find it without going through the selection process; nevertheless, Jesus told us that there are requirements to following Him. We must deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him. Many want to follow Him without meeting His requirements and by doing so, close off the way to the path that leads to life in their own faces. Many want to bring forbidden items on the journey thereby making it even more arduous, laborious and impossible to find this path leading to life. Paul said he counted everything as dung so that he may gain Christ(Phil 3:8). This path cannot be stumbled upon nor be found arbitrarily. There needs to be a conscious and deliberate effort towards finding it. It is meant to be found-”few find it”. It must be sought after. It must be desired.Once found, it leads to life. We will experience life on this side of eternity and in the next. It is life for your soul, spirit and body. We may lie to ourselves and claim to be on this path but the absence of life will testify against us. It will prove us to be liars.
Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able(Luke 13:24)
Consider the rich young ruler, who was told to divest himself of all possessions and give the poor to gain eternal life; however, he was unwilling. He wanted to do things his way and still enter through the narrow gate. He was barred out. Isaiah 1 chronicles how Israel was in rebellion. They were covered with wounds from head to toe with no healthy spot on their body. Their wounds had not been dressed yet. They brought sheep to be burned as sacrifices and the fat of fine animals. Yet the Lord said it was useless to bring Him offerings and when they lift their hands in prayer, He will not look at them. He wanted to wash their sin away; however, they were unwilling ( Isa 1:1-20). They wanted to serve Him according to their terms;however, He would not have it. He rejected them. He has not changed. If we persist to carve out our own way of worshipping Him we will not enter through the narrow gate.
How can we enter through the narrow gate?
-Living a life of repentance
-Dying daily
-Walking daily in His light where His Word determines our steps
-Seeking the Lord on His terms
-Allowing the Spirit to lead us
-Submitting to the sanctification process
– Avoiding compromise
-Not conforming to the ways of this world
– Putting on Christ which is putting on His character
-Ensuring to seek Him daily with hearts that genuinely desire to know Him
– Loving what the Lord loves and a hatred for what He abhors