Here is the first post in the series.
I do have trouble with this verse, but that is not enough to work with. I need to work out what my actual problems are. Over 2 or 3 days, these were the questions I thought of around this passage.
- The verse says that many go in at the wide gate, and that few find the strait one. The people going in at the wide gate seem actually to be searching for a gateway to heaven. Who are these people who seek the gate, and don't find it?
- Verse 7 actually says that you have but to ask and seek to receive. Who is it that asked, sought, and found the wrong gate?
- Whom is Jesus addressing? Is He only speaking to His disciples, or is He speaking to a large crowd?
- Do I need to be afraid that I have personally found the wide gate?
- Jesus Himself said that there were few. What does "few" mean? There's an awful lot of us calling ourselves Christians in America. What is "few" in a place like America?
- Jesus is not unhappy about the gate being strait. It scares me, and it seems harsh to me, but Jesus is happy about it. What could I learn that would make me happy about the gate being so small?
- Jesus is not afraid to say these things that offend so many. What makes Him so confident?
- Finding a gate sure sounds like works salvation. Where is the grace in this?
- Mostly, what is Jesus telling me about Himself in this saying?
With these questions I am not seeking an answer to the question, "What is the correct doctrine of salvation as taught by this verse?" I am seeking something I can embrace about my Lord. I am seeking Him, not answers.
One of the thoughts that recurred to me over and again was that my questions were too simple, and that this BCM stuff was not going to work - that I was going to fail at it. There was not really much to do, but just keep at it in faith. Jesus promised that those who diligently seek Him would not go away empty.
I need to see Jesus much more than some technical answer about this scripture, so I kept after it. I could not quit doubting, but I kept bringing my mind back to Him, and sometimes I even forgot my worries.
If you are enjoying this, check back, and I will share some of the stuff I found in The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge.
4 comments:
Those are excellent questions, and I'd have many of the same.
So I'm hanging in there with you to see where this goes and to see how it brings you closer in knowing God.
Well, that last sentence seemed a little "results oriented." Most often, the journey is as much or more than the results. At least, that's what I've found.
Well, that last sentence seemed a little "results oriented."
LOL!
Yep. That's my most common error, and I had to keep telling myself just that. I'm in this to spend time "going somewhere" with the Lord, not "getting somewhere" on my own.
"I could not quit doubting, but I kept bringing my mind back to Him, and sometimes I even forgot my worries." That is really great.
And I love the picture of going somewhere with my Lord and not getting somewhere on my own.
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