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There is a meadow in front of the narrow gate. A few sheep are grazing there. The hiker sees a shepherd walking towards the cross. The shepherd is carrying a sheep on his shoulders. When the hiker looks more closely, he sees that the sheep is injured. It looks emaciated and tired, about to die. When he thinks about it a little, he realizes something: he himself was like this sheep! He was tired, injured and consumed by this world. All hope was lost. But just as this shepherd sought the lost sheep of his flock and brought it back, Jesus had sought him. How often had he heard his call and yet stubbornly remained on his own path. But the shepherd's loving voice did not give up. Only when the sheep had fallen into the abyss and become entangled in thistles and thorns was it ready to accept the shepherd's help. Without a sharp, reprimanding word, the shepherd freed the sheep from the thorny bushes and gently lifted it onto his shoulders to take it home.

The wanderer now understood even more deeply what Jesus had done for him. This strengthened his faith.

Now he approached the narrow gate. It was indeed much smaller and looked shabbier than the wide path. If you want to pass through it, you can't take any luggage with you. No rucksack would fit through. Even a handbag would prevent passage through the narrow gate. But the hiker had left all his possessions at the cross. He relied entirely on God's promises that he would take care of him. Only the power of God could bring him safely to the New Jerusalem.

Complete handover

The narrow gate stands for complete surrender and dependence on God. Nothing human - neither money, nor wisdom, nor influence - can enable us to enter eternal life. There is nothing we can do for our salvation except surrender ourselves completely to God and trust entirely in his merits. This is something we find very difficult. We clutch at the smallest of straws in order to have a plan B up our sleeve in case something goes wrong with God.

Yet it is precisely our own ideas that cause us to fail and thwart God's plans. We then often put the blame on God. We make him responsible for what has gone wrong because of our unbelief.

The death of the ego

Therefore, our own I, our old, selfish person, must die. We are no longer in control of our own lives. When we gave Jesus our burden on the cross, we also gave him control of our lives. Everything we are and have belongs to him. He has asked us to take up his cross and his yoke. This means obedience to him. He is now the Lord in our lives. Everything we do, what we eat, how we work or how we spend our free time, everything should be for his glory.

We have lost sight of ourselves. Our highest aspiration is to make God happy, who gave himself up completely for us. His sacrifice and his absolute self-denial for our sake should lead us to follow his example and that nothing is as valuable to us as he is.

This does not happen overnight. It is much more of a process. Even after our conversion, there are many idols from which God still wants to cleanse us. Somehow, even through the narrow gate, we still manage to smuggle in one or two things from the old life. But God knows this and will patiently work to ensure that one day we voluntarily hand these things over to him too.

The narrow gate - a daily decision

We actually have to decide anew every day to go through the narrow gate. Every day we have to decide to walk with God. It should be the first thing we do in the morning. I find this prayer very beautiful:

“Take me, O Lord, completely as your own. I place all my plans in your hands. Let me know what I can do for you today. Abide in me and give me the strength I need for this day. Let all that I do stand before you.”

-Ellen G. White, The Better Way, p. 75

It is also necessary to devote time each day to studying the Word of God. In the Bible we can get to know God better. We understand him and his actions better. We receive advice for our questions and are also admonished and encouraged. The Bible is food for our soul, just as bread feeds our body and provides it with nutrients.

This is the only way we can pass through the narrow gate. We will encounter many dangers and trials on the way to heaven. We can only pass them successfully if we strengthen ourselves through prayer and Bible study. If God is by our side in this way, then no trial is too difficult and nothing can overwhelm us.

Click here for the next chapter: „In the swamp of doubt“