Thought of the Day !!

You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)

The narrow path is our faith and trust in Jesus. And the small gate is our repentance. Repentance simply means to turn around or change. This gate is so small and few ever find it because when all's said and done, few truly want to repent.

There are many out there who've never cared about religion or God and will never change. These will continue down the broad road that leads to destruction. But there are also many who are in church today that made a commitment to Jesus once but never truly changed. They're actually on the same path as the others.

You cannot merely claim a belief in Jesus and think you can do anything you wish afterwards. True believing is not only intellectual thinking. It's also living what you believe. Here, let me put it another way:

A man and a woman both come to the local gym one day and decide to sign up. The man never goes back, yet he pays for his membership yearly. The woman goes faithfully every week. Two years later these two meet again. The man has gained fifty pounds, whereas the woman has lost fifty. The man is in the worst physical shape ever and complains that he's been having heart problems. The woman is in the best physical shape of her life and has never felt better. Both were members of the same gym. But one took the easy route and did nothing. He paid the price in the end. The other not only attended the gym, but also participated and lived out what she had signed up for. She was blessed because of it.

We can attend church. We can pay for our membership through weekly offerings in the offering plate. But if that's all we do to live out our Christianity, then we'll pay the price just like the man in the gym.

Being a Christian is much more than offering up an hour on Sunday mornings and a few coins in the plate. You might be able to buy a membership to the gym. But you'll never be able to buy your way into Heaven. Many so-called Christians are strolling down the easy path. DON'T be one of them!

If you do truly believe in Jesus and have put your whole trust in Him for salvation, then you will live your life on the harder, narrower path that's more about love of God and neighbor than love of self. And this path will lead you to life instead of death.

In the love of Christ,
greg