The gate is narrow, but not impossible to get through.

You’ve been warned. Jesus said it up front: Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mat 7:14) He came to bring salvation, not a path of rose petals. The path is tricky to follow,  and only those who stay with it will find the salvation He promised.

Why is the road so hard? Two reasons. 1. Our nature is selfish. We live to satisfy our own desires. We can’t help it, we’re born to think of ourselves first. And it’s a very strong desire to save ourselves and satisfy our own wants.

2. We have an enemy who lives to see us fail. Since he lost his place in heaven, satan’s only thought is how to hurt God by hurting us. He works against us in every single place he can. Those areas where we actually feel good about giving to other people come under attack so it gets harder to do than it should.

The gate to salvation becomes very narrow indeed, because God calls us to be selfless. It goes against our own desires, and the work the enemy presses against us. Only putting everything in God’s hands gives us the strength and courage we need to follow Him as we should. Daily prayer, daily commitment to the One who loves us best, will fill us with all we need to rise up in blessing to those around us. It may take effort, but it’s not impossible.