“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus, quoted in Matthew 7:13-14

The narrow way is the way of paradox. No ravenous beast will be on the highway of holiness, yet that way is the war road of spiritual battle. We surrender literally everything about this life up to our God, yet we gain infinitely more than our human and self-directed life could ever give. If we would be true disciples, not weak imitations, we must seek to lose everything, yet we will find ourselves filled with the divine life of our God and partakers of His very nature. This life will be absolutely free of religiosity, yet it will be a life of unparalleled fervency. In this life we will give up all our efforts to love our God and love others, yet will finally be filled with our God’s divine love and be free to love Him and others as we never could otherwise. We lay aside all our struggling and working to be holy, yet we will be made holy with the holiness of Christ, a holiness we could not even imagine otherwise. We lay aside all pursuit of happiness, yet in so doing we will be filled with the indescribable joy of the Holy Spirit. The one thing in this life we will pursue fully is the end of our self living – to be crucified with Christ – yet we will find ourselves finally and fully alive with the fullness of the life of our God in us.

Indeed, the narrow way is the ancient path, the good way from Jeremiah 6. It is the highway of holiness from Isaiah 35. It is Christ Himself, the way the truth, the life of God Himself living in us. It is the lonely way, lonely as Jesus was alone among many yet always consciously present with His God.

At times this life will feel briefly like the loneliness of the cross, the loneliness of forsaking all and being forsaken by many. Yet this deep loneliness never lasts for long because our God lives within us. Though we may at times forget that He lives in us, He is quick to remind us not only of His indwelling presence, but of our partaking of His very nature and fullness.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Oh, but what a life it really is!