July 16

The Narrow and Wide Gates

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13, 14).

Scripture: Matthew 7:13, 14

Song: “Jesus Calls Us”

I remember walking through the turnstile at Crosley Field, home of the Cincinnati Reds, when I was a 12-year-old boy. It was a narrow gate. But once I got through the slim passageway, I was delighted to see the exquisite beauty of the baseball diamond: emerald green grass, a perfectly manicured infield, and straight chalk lines down the baselines. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. It was like entering an awesome green cathedral.

It would seem to us that a wide gate and a broad road would be the way to go. But Jesus knows what is best for us. He warns us that the wide gate and the broad road end in destruction. In spite of this warning, many choose the wide gate. How much better to heed the call of Jesus to enter into life through the narrow gate.

My father paid for my ticket to Crosley Field (75 cents in 1958). That ticket granted me entrance through the narrow turnstile and into the ballpark. Jesus paid for our “ticket” when He shed His atoning blood on the cross so that we could enter through the narrow gate into eternal life.

Lord, thank You for Your goodness, wisdom, and mercy in preparing for us the narrow gate to the road that leads to everlasting life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

July 16–22. Victor Knowles, of Joplin, Missouri, is founder and president of Peace on Earth Ministries, which promotes Christian unity for the sake of world evangelism.