Matthew 7:7-14
My husband and I went for a spin today, a truly beautiful day here on the east end of the island. Just a bit of coolness in the air but everything is blooming, the skies are a magnificent shade of blue and the water is calm. It promises to be another great sunset. As I was driving, all I could think of was the gate from this passage.
I see gates all along the road. White picket gates, chain link gates, high and wide wire gates, bar gates, even gates made out of lumber with big steel padlocks. What are they all for? Some to keep people in, animals in? Some to keep people out, trespassers, thieves? Some are simply decorative. What are they all for?
It seems to me a wide gate with one person walking through is as silly as a narrow gate with a hundred trying to walk through. No matter, the hundred will still get through, just not as fast perhaps.
I wonder about those pearly gates up in heaven? A human invention for sure. The concept though is real. A portal of welcome and perhaps a place to stop those from being admitted. I am not so sure the gate or portal to eternal happiness is narrow or meant for just a few. I am not one to swear there is even a hell to be turned away to. I believe every attempt to enter the gate is welcomed by our loving God. If you seek the gate with all sincerity, I believe it will be opened to you. God is not so much into accomplishing things as much as open to pure hearts, hearts that love and fail, hearts that love and soar. All welcome.
If there is a gate from which we may be turned back, it will be us that does the turning back, not God I think. If there is a portal of welcome and there is a hell, we will be the ones as individuals making the choice to enter or turn around.
That wide gate with the easy road that leads to destruction is one we would have to choose in life. I suggest we not choose that road. The path to the gate and eternal happiness is filled with love, compassion, forgiveness and peace. The path is the path Jesus chose and Jesus walked. No matter who we are and even what faith we are, Jesus is an example of how to walk the path, and work the word. He was and still is the original mover and shaker. His life is the path to the gate.
My husband and I went for a spin today, a truly beautiful day here on the east end of the island. Just a bit of coolness in the air but everything is blooming, the skies are a magnificent shade of blue and the water is calm. It promises to be another great sunset. As I was driving, all I could think of was the gate from this passage.
I see gates all along the road. White picket gates, chain link gates, high and wide wire gates, bar gates, even gates made out of lumber with big steel padlocks. What are they all for? Some to keep people in, animals in? Some to keep people out, trespassers, thieves? Some are simply decorative. What are they all for?
It seems to me a wide gate with one person walking through is as silly as a narrow gate with a hundred trying to walk through. No matter, the hundred will still get through, just not as fast perhaps.
I wonder about those pearly gates up in heaven? A human invention for sure. The concept though is real. A portal of welcome and perhaps a place to stop those from being admitted. I am not so sure the gate or portal to eternal happiness is narrow or meant for just a few. I am not one to swear there is even a hell to be turned away to. I believe every attempt to enter the gate is welcomed by our loving God. If you seek the gate with all sincerity, I believe it will be opened to you. God is not so much into accomplishing things as much as open to pure hearts, hearts that love and fail, hearts that love and soar. All welcome.
If there is a gate from which we may be turned back, it will be us that does the turning back, not God I think. If there is a portal of welcome and there is a hell, we will be the ones as individuals making the choice to enter or turn around.
That wide gate with the easy road that leads to destruction is one we would have to choose in life. I suggest we not choose that road. The path to the gate and eternal happiness is filled with love, compassion, forgiveness and peace. The path is the path Jesus chose and Jesus walked. No matter who we are and even what faith we are, Jesus is an example of how to walk the path, and work the word. He was and still is the original mover and shaker. His life is the path to the gate.
‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
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