Strive!

When Jesus went about in the cities and villages, someone asked Him if there were few who are saved. This incident tells us that when Jesus preached the gospel He spoke with such seriousness that people involuntarily asked: Is it possible to be saved? From Jesus’ answer to the one who asked, we gather how emphatically He underlined the seriousness of the matter. “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24.

Why shall many not be able to enter? Because they do not strive! There were some who heard the Word, but then the devil came and plucked it out of their hearts so they would not believe and be saved. We must fight the fight of faith as soon as we hear the Word. The Word is to lead us through the narrow gate. Therefore we need to receive it with meekness; it must be mixed with faith in our hearts. If this does not occur, we will not enter through the narrow gate. Then we are receptive to all kinds of winds of doctrine and fall prey to the devil.

When a person cannot enter through the narrow gate, even though he has seemingly made every possible effort to do so, he fails on one particular point: he is too slack. Jesus’ words stand firm: “Strive to enter!” On the day of judgment nobody will be able to say, “I strove and battled with the utmost seriousness, and I still could not enter.” However, there will be many who will say, “I knew I was supposed to take up my cross daily, but I only thought about it; I knew that the kingdom of heaven has to be taken by violence, that it is taken by force, but I was far too soft and lazy.”

The harlot has corrupted the entire way of salvation, and has ru­ined people’s understanding, with the result that now the majority would rather live without taking up their cross, yet still be saved in the eleventh hour, because they believe they will receive the same reward whether they come first or last. What a terrible deception of Satan!

God’s Word shows us only one way that leads to the kingdom of heaven; it is the narrow way which few find and on which few walk; and yet it leads to life.

We must fight the good fight of faith daily, so we can stay on the inside of the narrow gate, because that is where the way of sanctifica­tion is. There we will know Jesus, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.