Open Door

Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. (Luke 13:24)

Well, when I read this verse, my mind immediately thought something like this: Q: Well that's a strange way to put it. Why would someone not be able to fit through a door? A: Because they're too big. Q: Well, what makes you too big for a spiritual door? A: Sin. Selfishness. Pride.

I thought about this one little verse for at least 20 minutes, I'd say. How could I be so spiritually fat that I couldn't fit through a door that I was meant to be able to fit through. How could it be so hard for so many to enter - even those who will try. That seems to me to imply that these people have given some effort to fitting through this door. They've probably tried to live a decent life, be kind to others, give to charities, help old ladies cross the street, etc. So what are they missing? Are their motives right? Are their hearts pure? Jesus promises us that we can come to the Father through Him. This is how we fit through that door.

What holds so many back is spiritual baggage - SIN and SELF. Apparently we have to pack lite for heaven! If we have unconfessed sin, we carry it with us. And if we have not laid down our lives for Christ, then we carry our SELF with us as well. We have to lay that stuff down, leave it behind, or we'll never fit through the door God wants us to go through, no matter how hard we try.

'Force yourselves through it.' Those were His words. I should expect it to be difficult, maybe a struggle. It also sounds like I will have to do it with intention. I think this goes back to the idea of abandonment. I will have to choose to lay down my own stuff in exchange for only Jesus. Matthew 5:8 tells us that blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! What does it mean, 'pure in heart?' To have a heart only for Jesus - uncontaminated by the desire for anything else. Only for Him. Then I will see God. Then I will fit through the door.

Next question - Does this necessarily only apply to that moment when I die and am faced with heaven or hell? I don't see why it would have to. I'm sure that's the main intention of the verse, but I also think that God's word is universally true, and applies to all aspects of life, both now and then. Truth does not become truth only after we've died, right? It's either true now and forever, or it's not true. So, what if there's an opportunity that comes up, and God needs someone to work on His behalf - to do something important for His kingdom? Don't we often refer to opportunities as 'Open doors'? Will I be available if He asks something of me? Will I be able to fit through that door of opportunity? Or will I have too much spiritual baggage - to much unconfessed sin, to much selfishness and self-serving motivations?

My joy in life is the One Who offers the promise of that door - whether it's the door to opportunity and growth, or the doorway into heaven. Either way, it is the door that leads to God. When I imagine standing at that door, being so close, but being unable to go through... how absolutely heartbreaking. And only because of choices I've made in my life...choices to push aside sin instead of confess it, or serve myself instead of God. When this is my perspective, when I see myself standing at the doorway, so close to stepping into where God wants me to be, I begin to see those choices for what they really are. And I see that any amount of difficulty, struggling and suffering I may do temporarily in this life is completely worth it to be able to pass through that door.