Narrow is the Way

 

I do not like this verse: 

Matthew 7:14, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

I want everyone to find the way to life! But when Jesus teaches us the parable of the Sower and the Seeds, He gives us realistic expectations. There are four types of soil, (the path: hearer does not understand and the seed is snatched away; rocky ground: rootless, trials and persecution comes so they fall away; thorny: cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke it; good soil: a person hears, understands, and bears fruit) where the seed is sown, but only one bears fruit. Only one!

Again, I do not like this! I pour myself into ministry and beg God to save lost people I know. I do not see many come to Christ, and sometimes I feel discouraged. I have prayed for years that some people would be saved! Maybe God has called these people, but they refuse Him still? He has moved some mountains for me, but He will not force people to accept salvation. What good is coerced love? “… those who find it are few.”

I am sure many of you have experienced the same thing. What can we do? We cannot save a soul, but we can do our best to prepare the soil of people’s hearts:

We can make sure the gospel is clear. Before we can do that though, we must discover where people are on the journey and what barriers keep them in unbelief. (I recommend the book, “Conversational Evangelism,” by Norman and David Geisler for further thoughts on this.)

We can attend to discipleship, so people do not simply get distracted by life/trials and fall away. This might mean building a genuine, caring relationship with someone and investing time in them. (I say genuine, caring relationship, because nobody wants to be somebody’s ministry.) I know, we are all busy, but this is important! The first step for us might be to build some margin of time into our schedules, but that is another topic.

We can address suffering and persecution (thorns that choke the gospel). Many people cannot accept God’s love, because they get hung up on why He allows suffering. We cannot ignore these objections and might need to read up on these topics ourselves.

We can be faithful in prayer for the lost, begging God to soften their hearts, open their eyes, and to woo them with His love.

There are no guarantees that people will be saved even with these efforts, but at least we will know we have given our best for God’s kingdom. These are small things compared to the hard things Jesus did for us! If nothing else, there’s a good chance we will make some good friends along the way. I know I have.

What steps will you take to get started?

joyce hague