February 22, 2022 -- Luke 13:24 -- Entering the Fullness of Life in Christ

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Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Luke 13:24 ESV

This morning, very early, long before day-light, I heard the trashman’s truck. The sound of the heavy motor teased its way into my sleep. I opened my eyes. Through the gaps in the curtains I could see, playing on my ceiling, the reflected yellow and white lights of the truck. A house or two away the huge maw of the truck opened and the garbage in the back bins of the truck, where the man had been hurling it, were scrapped away and brought into the depths of the bed of the truck only to be disgorged at the dump.

What will it take to enter through the narrow door? The Christian who knows Jesus Christ must continually carry away the trash of his life. The wanton sins. The rebellious acts. The subtle deceptions. The huge wreckage of sins unconfessed lingering like the proverbial unspoken of elephant in the room. All must be carried out of the mind and the heart. This is done by confession. The Spirit of God then brings the cleansing flood of God’s grace poured out in Jesus Christ so that these sins are carried away in the redeeming flood. Washed to the maw of hell. You cannot carry your sins with you and follow Christ. You cannot hold onto sin because your hands are too full then with things and stuff and junk to hold out your hands to Christ. Let go of these sins. Trust once you have repented of them and turned from them, it is the Spirit of God Who has enabled you to do these things and the Spirit will strengthen you for clean living in Christ.

The narrow door is Jesus Christ. Run to Jesus. In your prayers, having confessed your sins, seek to know Jesus more and more. The narrow door is Jesus. Continually ask the Spirit what great and heavy furniture-like sins you are trying to carry with you through the narrow door; what is impeding your progress? The Spirit will show you. The Spirit will lighten your load. The narrow door is Jesus—bring praises to the Father, on the basis of the accomplished work of Jesus in the power of the Spirit. The things of earth will seem useless and empty in comparison to the glory and grace and splendor and majesty of the Triune God.

Thank You King Jesus, that today is the day of salvation; now is the moment of Your invitation to lay aside every sin and burden and walk with You. Spirit of God the precious word, which You led men to pen and preserve through history and across generations, is the lamp You use to show believers their sins and all the things which weigh them down so that they cannot enter the narrow door if these are continually hoarded. Spirit of the Living God, make brave Your people, so that in the household of faith they will confess their sins and confidently trust these hoarded burdens are finally, truly removed. Father in heaven, let the hearts and minds, the lives and actions of Your children, adopted as such by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and kept for the day of salvation by Your Spirit, bring You honour and praise, glory and blessing. Amen.

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