After Jesus taught about the 8 blessings in Matthew 7, He ended his teaching with 3 parables. The first teaching was about the narrow gate and the wide gate.

Matthew 7:13-14
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The narrow gate is Jesus.

John 10:9-10
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus is the door of the sheep gate. When the sheep are inside the fence, they sometimes wander and get out of the fence. Jesus is there to watch the door and make sure that they don’t come out.

Scripture clearly tells us that Jesus is the door. That door is always open.

Revelation 3:8
⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Sometimes it looks like we have a lot of choices in our life but really there are only a couple of important choices that we have to make.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20
¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰ that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

The most important choice that we have to make is life or death, heaven or hell, the narrow or wide gate.

Satan tries to make it feel like life is very complicated, like there are so many choices that we have to make. But life is very simple. There are only a few choices to make. Choose life. The narrow road is salvation. Choose Jesus.

There are many people who don’t want to go through the narrow gate. Why? You cannot go into the narrow gate with self. You have to leave self behind. Your spirit can enter into that gate, but your flesh must stay behind.

The door is open for everyone. Jesus wants everyone to walk through that door, to walk on the narrow path and through the narrow gate.

People trust themselves more than anyone else. They live by their life’s experiences. They trust their own experiences and their own wisdom. So they struggle when they are called to leave self behind and go through the narrow gate.

It’s dangerous to live by our own experiences and wisdom. When you live this life led by your own wisdom, you will fail over and over again. Even though we fail over and over, we still want to trust ourselves more than anyone else. Why? We are selfish. We idolize ourselves.

Very few people go through the narrow gate because they are unwilling to leave their flesh behind. If you want to go through the narrow gate, you have to leave yourself behind. You have to leave your idols behind.

When you walk on the narrow road, you may fall. But those around you, your brothers and sisters in the Lord, are there to help you up. Ultimately, we need to trust God. God is the only one who won’t disappoint us.

God bless you,
Pastor Sun Hui East