Not_Now.Soon
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- Aug 16, 2015
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- #41
Jesus, nearing the end of His sermon, cautions us to not just follow along everyone else, but instead to follow the narrow path of life. Saying, " 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 also has said in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth and the life. And that no one comes to the Father, except through Jesus. With that in mind, the narrow path is laid out, and the narrow gate is identified. To follow Jesus is the path. To believe in Jesus must be the gate.
After Jesus taught to follow the narrow path, He cautioned against false guideposts. False prophets. Teaching, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
Jesus also teaches that just by calling on Jesus's name does not make us Jesus's followers. "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
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Life Aplications.
Some wisdom to consider is the idea that there is safety in numbers. If your lost, follow along in the crowd your in and most likely you'll find what your looking for (assuming the rest of the crowd is looking for the same thing). If your worried about safety, partner up with a few friends or acquaintances to bare the burden of safety together and hopefully by being in a group drive off the potential dangers around you. Even if you are only confronting an idea, whether in a debate, or in a confrontation with another person, it is easier to be successful as well as less likely to lose the argument in shame if you have a group of people there to say the same thing, and support what your saying.
However, Jesus highlights the narrow path and compares it to the broad one many people go though. When it comes to our faith, and our salvation. It is a very narrow path. The larger group either goes a different direction ignoring Jesus. Even with those who pay attention to Jesus and His teachings, many focus on Christianity to stand against it, and make their voices loud against it; many who are Christian squabble over doctrine, lifestyle, politics, and anything else to get lost under about the issues and lose sight of Jesus; and some hold up road signs saying "follow me" who are false teachers, false prophets, and conmen. They unfortunately lead many people away also. In our faith and our following Jesus, we must take the responsibility of following Jesus as our own burden. Not a shared burden in a group. We must keep our focus on Jesus so we do not get sidetracked and lost.
Two ways to do this that I recommend. First is to pray often, so that we are close to God. Second is to study the bible and the teachings of Jesus. This will help both in finding out what we should do and then applying it to our lives; it will also become a foundation to know what is not from Jesus, so to help identify who are good teachers and who are false ones. That way we are not swept away when a false teacher says he knows the way.
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