Matthew 7:14 Moses encourages Israel to choose life, to be obedient. The message wasn’t just for the Israelites standing before him, but for future generations as well. Jeremiah, whose prophetic ministry begins under God-fearing leadership, ends under and unrighteous king and God‘s judgment of Israel. God’s message to the people, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death“. On the mountain, in front of a great crowd, Jesus teaches there is a way that leads to life. It’s gate is narrow, contracted by pressure, straight and compressed. He tells us that few actually find it. The common thread between Moses, Jeremiah and Jesus’ delivery of God’s message, and number one on the scale of priorities, is the matter of life and death. The second priority is our choice…. Life or death… Light or darkness…. Jesus tells us to come through the Narrow Gate, the one that’s contracted by pressure, the one we have to seek after in order to find it. This Gate is contracted by pressure, it’s straight, and compressed…would it be an easy choice? There’s not much wiggle room. Perhaps those belonging to the world ‘don’t fit’, they require more ‘room’…bigger ‘houses’ in order to maintain earthly treasure and personal pleasures. Once we find and choose the Narrow Gate, we’re transformed, our mind renewed. We don’t feel confined or restricted. In choosing the Narrow Gate, we realize the baggage we carried with us, filled with the desires of the flesh, won’t fit, so we leave it at the entrance. The Keeper of the gate will dispose of it for us. We realize, in choosing the Narrow Gate, the contraction by pressure, the compression we feel comes from the Potter’s hands, shaping us into a vessel He can use for His glory. The Narrow Gate, the Light, the Way, the Truth and the Life are all here as we come through it. We don’t look back to what was, what we’ve left behind, but with eager anticipation, we hope for what’s yet to come. Lord, we’re humbly grateful. You see us, even as w
