7.13 and so it begins…
Brothers and Sisters,
Welcome to THE NARROW GATE. I feel like saying I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time, but I only just recently decided to do this. Initially, TNG was an idea that I had for a podcast, over time I decided it was probably best if I decided what the goal was and build TNG based off of that goal. That goal, is to spread the fame of Jesus Christ and to spread His word. I want you to eat spiritually when you read, listen, or maybe even watch content from TNG. Keeping that goal in mind, I thought maybe a podcast wasn’t the best way for my to start TNG with. I need equipment, and although I’ve made podcasts before, I’m not ready to start that and figure out how to weave it into my schedule just yet. So I’m starting with a blog!
The Narrow Gate Blog “The Blog” is not a personal diary. It’s a peak into my relationship with God. I seek to share my experiences and decode my struggles with you. When it comes to The Blog I want to be clear that I believe there is a difference between being honest and telling the truth. The best way to explain the difference is through a metaphor (I love metaphors). Say you stole your teachers phone, if you wanted to be honest you would go tell her the truth, without external prompting. You would go tell her you stole from her because you believe it’s right to be honest and you believe what you did was wrong. Now, if you just wanted to tell the truth, you’d wait until she asks where her phone is, then you tell her the truth. The difference is the desire to be honest and the desire to hold onto what you took. This type of sentiment is echoed throughout our lives. We all have employers that would rather take advantage of their employees and only do what’s right when it’s required. We also have trouble deciding which way to go. We are faced with choices every day. We can choose to do right or we can choose to be right. We can only choose one path, and the right choice, is the one where we do what is right.
This reminds me of this quote:
“Would you rather be right, or do what’s right? Choose to bee right, and you won’t do what’s right. Choose to do what’s right, and you’ll be right”
Confusing, right? It gives me a headache. So here’s a metaphor. Your sibling slaps you. You can choose to slap your sibling back and be right when you get the opportunity to tell your parent that the sibling started it, or you can choose to walk away from your sibling (do what’s right) and also tell your parent that your sibling is fighting with you (and also be right). It make sense now (I hope).
Think about this in your walk with God. Maybe you hate Christians. Maybe you’re just curious. Maybe you’re bored and about to stop reading my blog, but I want you think about this. Are you seeking to just be right or are you seeking to do what’s right? You’re probably wondering where I came up with the name for TNG. It comes from Matthew 7:13–14:
[13] “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (ESV)
Following Jesus is entering through the narrow gate. Doing what the Bible commands us to do is entering through the narrow gate. It’s hard to do what’s right, and it’s even harder to follow what the Bible commands, but Jesus will be with you as you do. It leads to life. When I truly decided to follow Jesus, I had to accept the fact that I will lose friends, I have to make peace with the fact that I can’t give into my addictions anymore, I have to somehow be ok with all of the hardships that I’ll have to deal with in my life. I want you choose to accept the gift of life like I have. I know this might be scary to think about, but you actually already have the gift of life, and you just have to put your faith and trust in it. The gift of life is available to us because a man who always chose to do what is right, decided to also die on a cross for you. He didn’t choose it because he had to, he did it because he loves you. He did it because his father gave him to us because his father loves us too. All you have to do, is accept the gift of life, because God isn’t someone that you’d want finding out from someone else about your evil decisions. You’ve got to repent of your sins and ask for God’s forgiveness, not so you can go to heaven, but because he loved you (and always loves you), and you should love him too. It’s that love for him and thankfulness for what he did for you, that you will seek to do what’s right, and not be right. It’s because of his love, that I will choose to enter the narrow gate. I will do whats hard. I will walk the narrow way, because it leads me to the man who died for me, and I want to thank him for a very, very, very long time, because I’d still be dead if it wasn’t for him. I want to walk the hard way, because it leads to life, and I won’t be able to thank him for what he did if I’m dead. The way isn’t always hard though;) Now, let’s see what happens if someone slaps me, then we’ll see just how easy the choice is.
In the mean time, always remember Jesus’s sacrifice, and be sure to honor God in everything you enter, can, say, wish, will, want, do, pray, tell, think, or believe and choose the narrow gate.
-Elijah