“Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets."
To me this is very eye opening and challenging. Does my life look like one of fulfilling my needs and desires or is it of surrender and seeking His will? In this set of verses we see that many will try to enter the narrow door but will fail. It doesn't say they didn't know where the door was, they knew but their lives never changed to surrender from their desires. Work hard is not to earn a gift that is free, work hard is so we can join in on the spreading of the Good News and to be a light to others. It says, "once the master locks the door it will be too late." What are we waiting for? The time will never be perfect in our eyes, we need to study to see like Christ did. The last part says, "but we ate and drank with you..." We need to be careful not to spend our time just eating and drinking with Him: Like going to church and saying the right things. We must be willing to grow and learn to open our heart to change so we won't hear "I don't know you."
He loves us so much and desires our love back that's why He gave us everything we would need to succeed; Jesus in the flesh, Jesus the Word, and the Holy Spirit in us so we can spiritually feel what we are learning. If we work hard to enter the narrow door, our entire journey will be joyful no matter what and we won't get discouraged every time life throws us a curve ball. Paul worked hard and sang praises even in jail, Peter worked hard and was honored to be whipped for sharing about Jesus. Stephen work hard and was stoned too death, but he still showed forgiveness. These are just a few but we can see they wanted what Jesus was offering and were excited to show it. What are we struggling with that keeps us holding on to our lives? Is it our money, family, children, or our worldly freedom? Jesus says in Luke chapter 9 verse 24, "If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." Work Hard to learn and do then we will experience the fruit of the Spirit and show it in our everyday lives. We can't wait for the perfect time in our mind because that will never come, the perfect time is now because we know Him. Rejoice and shine for the Lord and live to be different than the world. Amen