Ian Barclay's Thought For The Day

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Difficult choices (i)
Reading: Matthew 7:13-14 Click to view passage

The Nazis arrested Dietrich Bonheoffer in 1943 and Himmler himself ordered him to be hanged in April 1945, just a matter of weeks before the Allies liberated his concentration camp. His great book was “The Cost of Discipleship,” and that cost is what we are looking at here.
Two ways to live
The narrow gate is not heaven, but the entrance to life. When we enter by that gate we begin the Christian experience on earth. Entering the wide gate is choosing the world with all its attractions, rather than the Kingdom of God with its disciplines and challenges. Although entering the narrow gate has its difficulties, on the other side is an ever broadening vista that leads to eternal life (the life of God’s Age). The reverse is true of the wider gate, it is an ever-narrowing path that leads to destruction. As Bonheoffer said in his book there is no such thing “as cheap grace,” following Jesus costs everything. Shimon Peres, the 9th President of Israel, said he wasn’t afraid of loosing his life, but wasting it. For human being there are two ways to live. We must make our choice.

Meditation: Am I going to waste my life?
Prayer pointer. Help me to pay the price of discipleship.

Matthew: 37