The Narrow Gate

Lily and Sofie spent their first week of summer vacation at tennis camp. First Baptist Church of McKinney has several sports camps throughout the summer months, and the girls were excited to learn tennis. Every day, I dropped them off at the court, coated in sunscreen, with a water bottle in one hand and a racket in the other.

Learning important skills for the game, such as how to serve overhanded and to use a mean backhand are important if the girls are to be successful tennis players that have a lifelong love for the game. Even so, they are little girls and they inherited their Mama's sweet tooth. To be sure, Lily and Sofie were most excited to receive free ice cream for memorizing their Bible verse. During camp devotions throughout the week, the girls were challenged to "Rise Above" and...

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road the leads to destruction. And many people enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few will find it."-Matthew 7:13-14

Naturally, we practiced the verse a lot at home to earn that coveted Chik-fil-A ice cream certificate. And as we worked to memorize the words, I was challenged to plant the truth in my daughters' hearts. As we studied the words, we talked extensively about the crossroads before us in the road of life.

At some point, we all make a choice as to which gate we shall pass through. As a woman of faith, I pray my daughters and my son charge through the narrow gate. The world proclaims that it doesn't exist. And yet, God's Word tells us to enter through it. In a lie, straight from the pits of Hell, the world claims there are many ways to God. Still, the truth says there is only one... the narrow gate. It's marked, not by tolerance, but by the blood of Christ. While the world calls it foolishness, only the narrow gate leads to true redemption.

Today, my children walk the road of life with my husband and me. Hand in hand, we spend our days safe in the presence of our LORD. He goes before us and He has our back at the same time. But one day, not long from now, Jack, Lily and Sofie will choose their own path. There is no greater prayer for me as a mother than my desire to see my children "walk in truth."(3 John 1:4 NIV)) And I am aware that each day I am responsible to "train them up in the way they should go so that when they are older they shall not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) It's a responsibility I do not take lightly, as I understand, that for this, I am accountable to my Holy God.

Our journey has already begun and our days together are short. Therefore, as a woman of faith, I am challenged to live out and teach my kids about God's promises. As their mother, I must not fail to "teach them to (my) children, talking about them when (we) sit at home and when (we) walk along the road, when (we) lie down and when (we) get up." (Deuteronomy 11:19) I must not squander the fleeting moments I have with my kids. Instead, I must train their eyes to know the narrow gate for the world will surely hide it from them. The road of destruction will have many disguises. My children must "not forget the things (their) eyes have seen or let them slip from (their) heart(s) as long as (they) live."(Deuteronomy 4:9)

All the days of their lives, I pray my girls and my son continue to seek the narrow gate and walk the road that leads to life in Christ. As mankind continues to strive on the wide road of humanism, another path lies waiting for us all. Only with Christ can we truly "act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8 NIV) It's a life of restoration and it is found by walking through the narrow gate.