Luke 13:23-30
One day, somebody asked him, ‘Sir, will God only save a small number of people?’ Jesus said to the people there, ‘Do your best to go in through the narrow door. I tell you that many people will want to get in there. But they will not be able to go through it.
Soon the master of the house will get up and he will shut the door. And then you may still be standing outside the door. You will knock and you will say, “Master, please open the door for us to come in.” But the master will reply, “I do not know you. I do not know where you come from.” Then you will begin to say, “But Master, we had meals with you. You taught us in the streets of our villages.” But he will tell you, “No! I really do not know you. I do not know where you come from.
You have done very bad things, so go away from me, all of you!” Then you will cry very much because you are standing outside. You will bite your teeth together. You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the place where God rules. You will also see all God’s prophets there. But God will shut you outside. At that time, people will come from everywhere in the world, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They will all come to take their place in the kingdom of God . There they will sit down together to eat a great meal.
Listen! At that time, some people that are not important now will become the most important. And some people that are now the most important will not be important then.’
▪︎ How soon will the Kingdom of God come?
▪︎ How will it be in the Kingdom of God?
▪︎ And who will be there?
These are questions that concern many believers.
It is a subject that provokes fiery discussions over and over again.
It would also be interesting if we had the opportunity to ask Jesus questions like this.
If we could do that, what would He answer?
We do not need to remain in uncertainty about that, for there has been one who has asked Jesus such kind of a question:
Luke 13:23
And someone said to Him:
Lord, are there few who are saved?
Jesus does not answer this question with yes or no.
He also does not like interesting discussions.
Certainly not with people who assume that they are doing well, and that only others need to repent.
Jesus immediately changes the question.
We should not wonder whether there are many or few who can enter, but we must ask ourselves whether we are there among those who can enter. That is the real question.
We should not engage in interesting discussions about God’s Kingdom, but we should engage in our own struggles to enter. Because there will come a time when it is too late.
If you want to catch a train, you have to be at the station in time.
Even if you are only one minute late, you will miss the train, stay at the station, and not get to the destination you had in mind. You will be left behind.
It is exactly the same with the Kingdom of God.
▪︎ The moment you die, and you have not yet received Him as Lord and Savior, you are too late to enter.
▪︎ The moment my Savior returns, and you are not yet among His followers, you are forever too late.
It may sound harsh when I say it this way, but once it is too late to enter His Kingdom, it is too late forever. Therefore, delaying to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior is not only dangerous, but also stupid!
When it’s too late …
Luke 13:25 AMP
Once the head of the house gets up
and closes the door,
and you begin to stand outside
and knock on the door [again and again],
saying, ‘Lord, open to us!’
then He will answer you,
‘I do not know where you are from
[for you are not of My household].’
You have heard the message to repent of your sin,
▪︎ but you didn’t
▪︎ but you have not received Him,
▪︎ and you have not come to follow Him.
Now you want to enter, but the answer is “I don’t know you!”
▪︎ Only when the door is closed, the seriousness of the matter becomes clear to many.
▪︎ Only when the door is closed, many knock on the door to be let in.
▪︎ Only when God’s Kingdom has arrived in full glory, many see Who He really is.
But then it is too late.
Jesus wants to be known by us in faith NOW. Then He will know us on that day.
I can not understand why people do anything for a virus that has less fatalities than the flu, even if they have to buy masks which don’t work (let 80% of the virus go through) they do so, or make masks themselves (which have even less effect) to prevent a fine of € 100,= , or let thousands of companies go bankrupt, and destroy their countries for it. People do this all, out of fear for something that hardly is a danger to them. But for the real danger to miss out on God’s Kingdom, and end up in a place of eternal punishment, they have no fear, and are not willing to repent, and they are not willing to follow the only One Who can save them, and give them eternal life. I really cannot understand.
In the end, the wedding hall will be completely full, but there will be many who were invited, but who had excuses not to come, and who will not be there.
There will be many in the Kingdom of God, but others than one would initially expect to see there.
▪︎ It will turn out that many who were invited did not recognize and receive Jesus as Lord and are therefore left outside.
▪︎ It will turn out that many who were told to repent and follow Jesus didn’t listen, and didn’t do so, and therefore are left outside.
▪︎ But people will come from everywhere.
▪︎ People you might not expect there,
▪︎ People who have not been familiar with the Gospel since childhood, but who have been touched by the grace of Christ and have clung to Him.
▪︎ People who have heard the gospel and received Jesus, and have started to follow Him.
We must also take this sharp warning from Jesus, to the Jews of His time, to heart.
The fight to enter is not an uncertain fight. But it is a daily struggle to continue to follow Jesus as Lord of our lives.
In short: Fight to enter into the Kingdom of God.
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith;
take hold of the eternal life
to which you were called,
Take my life Lord, and let it be committed unto Your honor.
~~~~~
PS. Make it your habit to check out my website, as without any good reason my pages or account on Facebook may be gone again.
Bookmark the devotionals or add it to your homescreen. https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
Internet: http://harryschoemaker.nl
~
ENGLISH
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldwide.ekklesia/
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
~
NEDERLANDS
(Ligt, doordat het niet meer gelezen werd, momenteel even stil)
Facebook: https//www.facebook.com/wereldwijde.ekklesia/
Twitter: Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website: https://overdenkingen.harryschoemaker.nl
About Author
