Walking through the Narrow Door
Believing in the Sovereignty of God in our lives every day gives an assurance that God is our shield and great reward. This is a promise of our God to Abraham and to us His children. In the book of Genesis chapter 15, we see Abraham acknowledge the Sovereignty of God in his life, entrust to God his personal need, believe and obey God with all his heart, and then God makes a covenant with him and gives him good old age.
Every day we face challenges, inconveniences and discomforts from traffic, our relationships with people around us, juggling too many tasks at home, ministry, work, and school, and personal issues in life. All this seems to become routine. Sometimes we just become passive, accepting things as they are, and later get burned out.
Apart from the challenges, we encounter fears of not meeting deadlines and expectations at work or school, failing a subject, having an inadequate budget to meet the daily needs of our families, striving to earn more, finding a spouse, or being unhealthy. In all this busyness and fear, may our heart sing like David: “The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27: 1); “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” (v4) His Word is our shield, our encouragement and strength when fears come our way. God desires us to have a constant communication with Him every day, being fully dependent on Him, trusting not ourselves but Him alone. May we desire to long more for JESUS as we wake up in the morning and be like HIM every day.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he urged them to “stand firm in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1). It is the same call that we are also being admonished to fulfill in this present time. As Christians we are reminded that “… our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.“ (Phil 4:20). As we prepare ourselves for His coming, may we walk every day in the Sovereignty of God in all aspects of our lives at all times, humbly seek the Lord’s presence every moment, let His will and agenda first be done, and stand firm in our faith in the Lord as we expect Jesus’ return. In today’s Gospel in Luke 13:24-25, “The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, for the truth is that many will try to enter but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late…“ Whatever situations come our way, let’s stand firm in our faith, press on and keep walking through the narrow door to heaven, the way to eternal reward.
