Mensa Otabil - The Narrow Gate (10/02/2025)
This week, we are looking at the topic of choices, and we have said that life is a choice. We say that Jesus or God holds the key, and we’ve talked about the fact that there is a way we must not enter, which is the broad way. Today, we are looking at the path we should be following. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 14, it says, «Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.» Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way. We see that Jesus is telling us that if we want to really know which door He is opening and which doors He is shutting, the one He is shutting, incidentally, is the one with a broad gate and a wide way. It will seem as if that is the one He is opening, but that is the one He has shut. The one He has opened is a narrow gate.
So when God opens a door for us, it is usually not a very huge door; it is a narrow gate, and the way is broad. Jesus is pointing us in the right direction. He is telling us that if we want to follow Him and get His results, this is what we should be looking out for. Let’s look at the three things He says. First, He says that the gate is narrow. That means the access is controlled. The first thing anybody would see when they approach a gate that God has placed before them is that it is narrow. Right from the beginning, you realize that there is something serious you are getting into. Not everybody will see it, not everybody recognizes it, and not everybody values it, but that will be God’s way, whether it relates to our salvation, our well-being, our marriage, or everything else. The path of Christ is a narrow gate.
When you hear everybody say, «Oh no, I’m tired. I’m tired of my marriage. I want to give up,» that’s the broad way. But the path of Jesus is a narrow one; it’s a narrow gate, and you have to keep that in mind. It’s always a narrow gate. Everybody is saying, «Oh, do this kind of business, and you will prosper!» The one that Jesus opens is not the one that is popularly being spoken about; it’s always a narrow gate. It is made for one person at a time. The broad way is made for everybody to go in, but God’s opportunity is tailor-made for you. That’s why it’s narrow; you can enter, and another person can enter after you, but one person at a time. It is a difficult path; it offers sacrificial living. Every path that God opens for us will have some difficulty in it. So if you want to know the door that God has opened for you, it is the one that requires sacrifice; it is the one that requires a lot of work; it is the one that requires sweat; it is the one that requires you to put in something.
Jesus says, «If you are even going to follow me, take up your cross and follow me.» He didn’t say it would be easy; He didn’t say it would be sweatless. He said it’s going to be tough, but He also says, «My burden is not heavy,» and the pressure He puts on us is light. The burden is light. Why? Because the Holy Spirit helps us to carry our responsibility, and what seems to be difficult becomes easy through the help of the Holy Spirit. As we trust the Lord day by day, the difficult becomes easy. The difficulty remains, but our ability to handle it comes from the Holy Spirit, and that’s what makes it easy for us. Jesus says few are on this path. Many people never find it; many people just follow the crowd, follow popular opinion, follow what is trending, follow what everybody is doing, and never discover the path that is tailor-made for them.
They never discover the path that Christ wants them to walk on in every area of their lives. So if you are going to really make the right choices, move away from popularity contests, move away from trying to please everybody, and move away from trying to do things that will give you likes and loves and all kinds of gimmicks that make it seem as if you are popular and doing well. Seek God’s way, and normally it is not a path that will give you instant recognition, but the end is beautiful, and we have to follow that path. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I have purposed in my heart to walk in Your way. Help me to follow You steadfastly. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.» We’ll continue this tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom—peace and life to you.