Reading the Word

Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV) — 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Understanding and Applying the Word

Jesus presents us with the choice of two different paths. One is wide and easy. Many people take this path and go through life along its easy way, but its end is destruction. Then there is the way that is narrow and hard. Not many people travel this way because it is not easy, but difficult. However, this narrow way leads to life.

The narrow and difficult way is the way that leads to the kingdom that Jesus has been speaking of throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Meekness and righteousness and persecution are not easy. They are hard and so are the many other things that Jesus has been speaking of in this sermon. But this is the way that Christ calls his people to take. This is the way that he has called us to live in the world. We are not to follow the easy path of the world, we are to take the narrow way of the kingdom of heaven. What path are you on?

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