Isaiah 45:22
Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
Christ alone is the Lord of life and history. He is the Lord, and he invites us to follow him, but he will respect our response to his invitation – which is why we should respond with great care.
Christ himself is the way to salvation and fulfillment. Salvation comes from actually following him, from striving to know him better and obey his teaching. This is the narrow door, because he is demanding.
It is possible to be labeled a Christian on the outside without really making an effort to follow the Christian way in our hearts, to go to Church and be seen frequently at the parish without ever really entering into a committed, life-changing, personal relationship with Christ.
It may be comfortable for awhile, but in the end only those who have followed the Lord will be welcomed into the banquet.
“many will try to enter and will not succeed.” Certainly, the Church teaches that without the help of divine grace no one can live in eternal friendship with God, but Jesus is emphasizing here that we each must do our part as well.
If we settle for a comfortable, self-satisfying Christianity we may be deceiving ourselves – instead of building up God’s Kingdom, we may in fact be erecting an idolatrous house of cards. The spiritual life is a battle. Fight to Win!
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