Life or Death by Mayada Naami

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will bein you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14: 15-21, NIV).

Who is the Spirit of Truth and why does Jesus say the world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him? During this season of Lent, I have been reflecting on what it means to be a Christian. Is it simply believing in the death and resurrection of Christ? Is that enough? Is that all I need to get into the gates of Heaven? Many Christians go to Church every Sunday, quote Scripture, and yet still sin every minute of every day. Will they go to Heaven? The answer is yes, because the Bible tells us there is only one way to heaven—Jesus Christ. He died for our sins so we can have eternal life.

“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” (Matthew 7:13–14, NIV).

Jesus states that small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction (or death). He also says only a few find it. Why is life the narrow gate and death the wide gate? Simply because there is so much temptation in this world that the “norm” is the wider gate. By our own flesh we are spiritually separated from our Holy God. Death and destruction are all around us. More and more people are choosing the wider gate, living according to the “flesh” rather than abiding in the “Spirit”.

Before my personal encounter with Jesus in 2011, I too was of this world. I chose not to think about how my words, attitudes, actions, and inactions affected my life. I was surrounded by death and destruction. Over the last ten years, in my journey with Christ, my “old self” is dying, and I am a new person every day in Christ. Every morning I wake up wanting to be more like Jesus, even if it means letting go of people that are choosing to go through the “wider” gate. Sometimes I want to be a part of the “crowd” because it can be lonely standing firm in the Word and keeping His commands. But then He reminds me that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and everything else leads to destruction. Though we may die, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25, NIV).

Will you enter through the small gate and join me on the narrow road to a peace-filled life?

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