August 21, 2024

Passage Read: Luke 13-14
Meditation Verses: 13:23-27

Thought

There is a contrast between "strive" and "seek" in Jesus' description here. He tells us to strive, which is stronger than seek, to enter the narrow gate. Many will seek to enter and fail. We must strive to enter, that implies diligent effort. He goes on to describe those who sought but didn't make it as people who recognized that Jesus ate and drank with them and taught in their streets, but Jesus denies knowing them. Seeking includes spending time with Jesus, having meals with Him, listening to His teachings, but not much else in the way of effort. They showed up when Jesus was talking or hanging around, but they applied no other effort. Jesus elsewhere says that it is not those who hear who are saved, but those who do His will. That's where the striving effort comes in.

Application

"Will only a few be saved?" Far fewer than we hope. We want it to be easy to be saved, but it's not. We want it to be as simple as praying a prayer and "believing in your heart," but we don't understand what that means. It means we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and Christ, and so whatever He says, asks or desires becomes our duty, our mission. Salvation, Jesus says, requires striving, not merely seeking. It requires more then just looking for Jesus; it requires diligently listening to Him and doing what He says. I'm not saved because I prayed a prayer and confessed Jesus as Lord. I'm saved if I believe in my heart that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and in so believing, I get serious about treating Him as such, doing His will and living as He commands. It's not enough that I like Him and listen to or read His Word; I must order my life according to His instructions. Then I can have confidence that I am saved, even hear from His Spirit that He knows me.