Matthew 7

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (HCSB)

A friend of mine is very wealthy. When I asked if he grew up rich, he said, “No.” When I asked how he succeeded, he said, “While everyone else was partying, I was studying. Now, I can party.”

Last week, I challenged you to read the New Testament, a chapter each day. I am also personally committed to doing the same so that we can grow in community. So, how’s your first week going? Are you diligent or belligerent? Has it been easy, or has it been a battle?

It seems like there’s never enough time to do everything we want. There is a high-stakes battle for our attention. Advertisers pay millions for 30 seconds of your Super Bowl time. If we never had to sleep, it seems there still would not be enough time to engage in all the activities (offered by so many various entities) begging for our attention.

Why do we often find ourselves too tired for God or His Word at the end of the day? Ask yourself, have you included God in your list of options, or have you committed to making every option subject to spending quality time with God?

Do you find yourself sprinting down the “broad road’, trying to redeem a wasted past?

“In high school, I could throw a football a quarter mile! If Coach had only put me in, we woulda’ took State. I woulda’ gone Pro….” Uncle Rico - Napoleon Dynamite

Matthew warns us that the “broad road” bottlenecks in a multi-car pileup. But it’s not too late to turn around. The Psalms encourage that God establishes the steps (and lights the way) of His children. The “narrow road” will broaden and be leveled beneath your feet as you follow the Lord by faith.

Let’s seek the “narrow way” together, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, faithfully pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God! (Philippians 3:13-14)

Keep reading the Bible together, praying this simple prayer, “Lord, give me something today from Your Word, and give me someone to share it with!” Let’s be among the few who find the way that leads to life and invite a few more folks along the way.

“‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’” Jeremiah 6:16a (NIV)