Thursday, March 3, 2022

Getting to Know Jesus Even Better #3

Luke 13 begins with Jesus' admonition to repent or perish. His message and call seem to be becoming more and more challenging, leaving some serious questions:
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last
.”
That is quite a question: Are only a few people going to be saved? True to form, Jesus answers with stories, but before He does, he gives an exhortation: Make every effort to enter through the door now. Why? because many will try to enter in the future and not be able to. Jesus' call is not something to put off. There came a time every day when the head of the house would take a head count and close the door to keep his household safe; everyone else was shut out. There was only so much room and so much time. The time to trust and follow Him is now, not later.  You don't want to miss out on what God has in store. 

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