Bible
Study: Ephesians 6, 1 to 9 and Luke 13, 22 to 30.
Jesus tells us that salvation is not an easy task. We must not expect
that the road to heaven will be easy and we must not deceive ourselves by
following the wide road that is most travelled by others. Luke 13:24 “Strive to
enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will
not be able.” What is the narrow door and why does it have to be narrow? It is
not the size of the door itself that makes it narrow and we must understand
that Jesus is not referring to a physical door into heaven, but he is speaking
in a figurative sense. By narrow door, he refers to the path of the cross, the
path of difficulty, the path of making sacrifice and letting go of personal
comforts and attachment to material things for the sake of achieving heaven.
In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul also makes some hard points
about the Christian life which would even make this door narrower. He says “Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and
mother"-- this is the first commandment with a promise: "So that it
may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:1-3.
OBEDIENCE is not easy. It is not easy to be under instructions and close
supervision. In fact if you think obedience is easy, then ask Saul why he
refused to destroy the Amalekites according to God’s instruction, a sad event
which led to his rejection as King of Israel. Being an assistant in so many
capacities myself, I must confess that there are times I feel like refusing to
obey my superiors thinking I have better ideas but then I remember the vow of
obedience and quickly caution myself so that as St. Paul says, it will be well
for me and I may live long to also have people under me some day.
It doesn’t end there, even Parents, Masters and Superiors also have a
challenge on their part to treat those under them with patience and discipline.
Ephesians 6:4. And, fathers, do not
provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord. This is another difficult task and quite often parents
find themselves unable to handle their children in a manner that would produce
the desired results because as the saying goes, “you cannot give what you do
not have.” Some parents are unable to discipline their children as they
themselves lack personal discipline and only those who are willing to follow
the narrow door of pain, sacrifice and letting go can afford to train up their
children in a way that leads to God. When you see a child that has been well
brought up, then you know that the parents have taken the narrow path.
Many of us Christians expect that things would be easy. We believe that
Christ has died for us and has done everything for us and we desire only God’s
blessings and prosperity. We do not want to hear of sacrifice and pain, we stop
going to church or we change our church when we are not receiving signs and
wonders or seeing miracles on display, we love to be in places where we hear
prosperity messages, we love to feel good and never be reminded of our
sinfulness and there are thousands of pastors and preachers out there who
capitalize on this. They only tell you what you like to hear and but I must be
honest to say this is just the wide path. We must enter by the narrow door.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, bless our children and teach us all to follow the narrow door. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
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