Scripture: Matthew 7:14
But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it.
Thought for the Day: This Sunday, we are once again focusing on the idea of Rising, specifically rising from narrowness. A lot of folks read these words from Matthew’s Gospel, and surmise the pathway to God as narrowly defined by certain moral standards. You might have heard some of these: can’t drink, can’t smoke, can’t dance. Of course, depending on the historic influences and cultural happenings, those moral guardrails were often very different from one generation to the next. Though I remember when I first learned the Greek word that we translate from Matthew’s Gospel as narrow. It is: Thlibo. It is the word that describes the process of squeezing the juice from a grape. It is the press that extracts what will become wine. The Bruce translation of this passage sounds something like: …the gate that leads to life will squeeze the life from you. Though harsh, it sounds as if Jesus is stating the same basic idea as when he invited his followers to take up the cross and follow him. The pathway of discipleship, and the gate into the fullness of life with God, is that of sacrificial love. It is more than simply accepting the love of God revealed in Jesus. It is the conscious choice to follow in the way of Jesus, which is the way of self-giving love.
Prayer: For all that Jesus has given for me, God of Relentless and Unconditional Love, I choose to go beyond simply receiving such a gift. May the blessing I know be the blessing I share. Amen.
