Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (Matthew 7:13)

The entrance is of crucial importance for every human being.  By default every human being enters this life through the wide door and begins life’s journey upon the wide road.  It is of paramount importance that men get off of the common path and enter through the narrow way which leads to eternal life.  It is for sure that there is a wide gate and a wide path that the masses travel every day.  It is to be observed however that the wide gate not only leads to a wide path, but ultimately it leads to a very narrow door that strips a man of everything he has lived for. 

On the wide road men pursue the things of the world and make every effort to possess all the things that bring temporary happiness to the flesh.  Men will spend vast amounts of money on the wide path to obtain wide screen TV’s, large houses, big cars, fancy wardrobes, top of the line hobby items, electronic fads, and there is no end for their pursuit after alcohol, lust, drugs, images, egos, and self-fulfillment.  Those who enter the wide gate and walk down the wide road long enough will find that they cannot hang onto the things that they try so hard to obtain. 

 The lost man who lives to the ripe old age of 85 years can only look back to health, wealth, and prosperity in what the world offered to him, but as he looks ahead to the grave, fear creeps into his soul and he trembles.  The door before him seems black, ominous, and he does not care to see what is on the other side.  Hell is raging, the devil is laughing, and eternity is screaming.  The lost man prepares to enter where millions have gone before and spends all of eternity cursing his own ignorance. 

The man who loses everything that the world has to offer in order to walk down a path that few are willing to travel, finds that as he looks to the future the door seems to just get wider and the light more beautiful.  The saved man who lives to be 85 years of age looks up to heaven and smiles and patiently waits for his Savior to come and open up the gates of heaven that he may joyfully enter into the presence of glory.

Dearly beloved, I have watched countless lives come to the end and I can only remind you that those who die without Christ are of the most miserable sort, but those who die in Christ die with eternal hope.

J. Randall Easter, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Briar, Azle, TX.
II Timothy 2:19
“He who sells cheapest shall have most customers; the devil knows that it is a cheap and easy doctrine which pleases the flesh, and he doubts not but he shall have customers enough.” (Thomas Watson)