Life unwasted
You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it... Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:13-14, 21
When the Lord Jesus Christ preached the greatest sermon ever preached, also referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, He reminded the crowd listening that day of not ignoring the warning about the destination of those who will not place their trust in Him. It is only by living in Christ one will live a life of purpose and a guarantee that destination is life eternal. Christ Himself took the path of sacrifice and suffering, the narrow path, so that those who will believe Him will gain the assurance of being part of His kingdom. God calls everyone to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). This is also God’s command in the Old Testament after the Israelites were freed from the Egyptian bondage. “You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3). Christ must have the supremacy over everything (see Colossians 1:18). Not to take God’s word seriously will result to grievous consequence. Prophet Amos warned the Israelites to take seriously God’s warning about the day of doom for those who will not trust God and will continue to pursue selfish desires. “You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer... Suddenly, all your parties will end” (Amos 6:3, 7). Christ should have the preeminence in your life. You could be involved in religious activities using your talents, yet missed out on God’s blessings and eventually experience a wasted life. Jesus warned His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount that “not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). How are you going to prevent yourself from living a wasted life here on earth? You could accumulate things from this world and yet still lose the one that will matter the most in the end. “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Be sure that you are in the will of God and not allowing the deception of Satan to mislead you away from Christ. “All the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved... God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel” (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 13-14). Reorder your priorities by making Christ number One in your life and in everything you do.
Blessings,
