Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September
15, 2021
Avoiding the “Great Crash”
Matthew 7:13-28
“Enter through the narrow gate. For
wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many
enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.
“Watch out for false prophets. They
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do
people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit,
but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good
tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus,
by their fruit you will recognize them.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven. Many will
say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in
your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew
you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
“Therefore everyone who hears these
words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on
the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into
practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down,
the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell
with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these
things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who
had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
This is
the end of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In this summary, Jesus drives home the
heart of the entire sermon (Chapters 5-7).
This is a
longer reading today, but often we forget that many of these sayings that we
consider separately were part of a longer teaching/sermon, in this case the
Sermon of the Mount. Matthew wants us to
hear especially all this section together because a pattern emerges when we
do. Jesus mentions several contrasts –
the narrow and wide gates, true and false prophets, sheep and wolves, good and
bad fruit, true and false disciples, and wise and foolish builders. Jesus is drawing a contrast between two kinds
of life we can live.
There is
a path to a life that few find that involves making choices that most do not
make. Most find out too late that they chose the wrong path. As Stephen Covey put it, they realized their “ladder
was leaning against the wrong wall.” Sometimes,
this is due to listening to the wrong teachers (false prophets). Sometimes, they focused on producing the
wrong kind of fruit. Some even claim to
be doing what they do for Jesus, but are actually making choices that Jesus
would not even recognize. Some chose to
build their life on the wrong foundation.
I think
people like me (spiritual leaders) often make the Christian life seem all too
easy. There is an ease to following
Jesus, but we should not mistake this for easy.
Thousands followed Jesus at first, but by the time he was crucified, the
numbers of disciples is down to maybe a couple hundred. Even among the twelve that traveled with him
for three years, Judas fell away. Jesus
makes it clear that it is a difficult daily decision to follow Jesus, likening
it to carrying a cross every day (Luke 9:23).
Even
though it’s difficult, what Jesus is trying to have us hear is that there is a
remarkable quality of life that is found by those few who carry that cross
daily. There is a beauty, grace,
security, wisdom, fruitfulness, and strength that begins to characterize their
days that far outweighs the difficulty.
This is the truly rich life that we are all offered, but so many just
see the difficulty and settle for less.
They take the wide road taken by the crowds and listen to the
smooth-talking teachers that fill stadiums and make it all sound like a
cakewalk. They build on shaky ground and
the smallest storm brings it all down like a house of cards.
Don’t be
them. Choose to carry the cross daily even when you don’t feel like it and even
when it seems like “all the cool kids” are doing that other thing. Enter. The. Narrow. Gate. Be one of the few.
Prayer: God, we want the life that really is life,
not all the cheap imitations. Help us
find the narrow gate. Help us recognize
the voice of true prophets by their good fruit.
Help us find the unshakable foundation on which to build. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for people who feel stuck today.
Song:
Narrow Road - Hillsong Worship
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