When I was in college in Virginia, there was a place nearby called Mountain Lake. At the base of this mountain was a cave where some of my classmates and I would go spelunking. It was a bit adventurous. Pitch black, bats, underground rivers. It was cool.

To enter this cave, most people went through a large mouth opening into the cave that you had to sort of crawl and shimmy down. It was safe and relatively easy. There was another way in that was a bit trickier. It was narrow and took some mental power and patience to maneuver. This entrance was a small hole in the side of the mountain, just big enough for a medium-sized college student to fit.

I was always hesitant to try this, but one day I decided to do it. I had to lie down on the muddy ground, reach my hands above my head with my flashlight, and inchworm myself down this dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever. I was cold, scared, and thought to myself, “What am I doing? I should have gone in the wider entrance.”

Jesus uses an analogy like this in Matthew 7:13-14 when he talks about the narrow gate and the wide gate. There is one way that is narrow, less traveled, constricting, not easily navigated, but leads to life. The other way is broad, easy, popular, obstacle-free, but leads to destruction.

All throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been showing his listeners a different way of living that is a bit constricting, harder to maneuver, and less popular than the way most people live. But the end reward is that we live and walk in the life and freedom that the kingdom of God offers to those who choose to enter through the narrow gate. It ultimately leads to living in a relationship with God that he intended for us to have with him.

Disciples of Jesus who fully embrace and follow his teaching are those who choose the narrow way, facing difficulties through prayer, reading God’s word, and trusting that Jesus has already made a way through life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once I finally made it through that small, slippery tunnel, the rest of the cave exploring that day took on a different significance. I had entered a way only a few people would dare … and lived to talk about it, and I was willing to do it repeatedly, knowing that I would be OK. It felt good to be one of the few.

Reflection:

  • Have you been living with a narrow gate or a wide gate mindset?
  • What about the wide gate is appealing?
  • How does the narrow gate approach challenge you? How does it free you?