Alice in Wonderland

"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to."   -Luke 13:24

Something sort of crazy happened as I was reading this passage in Luke (13:23-30).  I had a picture in my mind of a doorway, and lots of people coming to enter through it - thousands of people, coming from every direction.  I was supposed to go through the door, too.  I thought of Alice in Wonderland.  And how she was supposed to fit through that tiny door, but she was so big.  Like Alice, I would drink from the bottle and be reduced to just the right size to fit through the door.  It's what all the other people who would fit had discovered, too.  (Oh! And what a beautiful Garden awaited Alice through that door!)

There were others who tried to get through.  But they were so puffed up (with themselves) that they would never fit.  Others refused to let go of all the things the world had to offer.  Those who thought they knew the owner of the house had pride and service and gifts (or so they thought).  They found themselves to be more important and took themselves far too seriously.  Oh, but I could be like them!  It's as easy as taking a bite from a cookie.  A couple nibbles is all it takes to blow up to the size of a house!  The roof would be drawn as my hair, and each foot would extend from a doorway all its own.

Ok, so Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, knowing that He will die on the cross, and He says, "...enter through the narrow door."  What does He mean?  Drinking from that bottle - living water, Jesus calls it - means dying to myself.  That's not easy.  Making myself smaller in my own eyes, and not becoming puffed up with all that He has made me to be.  Or that I think I'm supposed to be.  It also means not giving in to the temptations that are all around me.  We are being made new, and He is doing an awesome work in my life.  He is truly wonderful!

More time…

Read Luke 13:23-30

If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.   -Matt.16:24-25

…but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  -John 4:14

Let's Pray…

Dear Lord, help me to be aware of the kind of person You're calling me to be.  Let me not be consumed with my own importance.  Please also let me not give in to the temptations I face every day.  Remind me of the wonder of who You are, and how You're able to get me exactly where You want me to be.  I love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Now what?...

What ways are you tempted to think of yourself more highly than you should?  Or...

What are some of the personal temptations that you're facing this week?

Write out a prayer confessing these things to God, asking Him to forgive you, and to help you stand in the truth.