Luke 13:22-30
...'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Sir, open the door for us." But he will answer, "I don't know you or where you come from." Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But he will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!" There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
Jesus seemed to have given two conflicting messages. He asked us to "make every effort to enter through the narrow door," but He also said "many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." The key of the problem lies in the word "effort," for we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven by our own effort. Many people think that they will enter the Kingdom by serving more at the church and helping more people in the community; some believe that they can get closer to God through reading the Bible, studying in the seminary, praying more, or raising their voice in every service. Some even believe that, as described in verse 26, taught in the streets. From human perspective, all these things are greatly spiritual behavior, but they might not please God. Just like the Pharisees at the time, they like to do things according to the book of law and they are truly pious, and they were definitely not actual criminals, for all they wanted to do was to please God through their own effort. Their intentions were good, but their methods were wrong, and therefore their ending was to perish.
Paul said in Galatians 3:3:"...Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" There are two ways to run on the path to heaven: first way is to by your own body, and the second way is to depend on the Holy Spirit. The first way is what we are born with, we depend on our own thoughts, rationality, determination and strength, for these are things within our control, but they are not methods that please God. The second way is what we are not familiar with, because we can't rely on our body any more, but rather we depend on the Holy Spirit to guide our way. Paul has said, in 2 Corinthians 5:7, that we should live by faith, not by sight. It's easy to live by sight, and to do things by our body, but to live by faith we need to depend on the Holy Spirit. If your faith depending on your body or the Holy Spirit? Do you live by sight or by faith? May God help us, let us once again walk on the path to depend on the Holy Spirit!
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