Check out the word husbandman and it is translated the farmer.

Our God gardens. Look at his first project.

After creating the world; he created a garden.

He chose a place east of Eden. The word eden means delight or pleasure. There the Lord planted a garden. The world was created with plants and animals. He created a man and then he created a special place for him to live. A place so wonderful it’s name was The Garden of Pleasure. We treat the word pleasure like it is nasty, but pleasure should be pure. Pleasure comes from enjoying the delights God has given us in the setting He provides.

So what did God plant in the Garden?

Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Then God brought the living animals He created to Adam so He could name them.

Genesis2:19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Then God created the woman to be in the Garden with Adam. Our Creator loves to fashion what is beautiful.  And in the evenings, God came and spent time one on one with Adam and Eve.

Genesis3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

Now Jesus in John 15 tells us God is gardening again. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches and the Father tends the vine to produce fruit.  And we know God is tending his garden to produce the sweetest of fruit.

The twelve year old me sat in a church and listened to a sermon that impacted me in such a way, I made the decision to follow Jesus for the rest of my life.  I do not remember a single word from that sermon.  I remember standing in the pew, music playing, preaching call all those who desire to come.  I remember that one moment I was standing there and the next moment I was standing in front of the church announcing I was now a Christ follower.

I can still see those moments in my mind — the sermon, I do not recall.

When I look back over my years of sitting and listening to sermons a vast number impacted me at the time, but I don’t remember them still today.

But a few I do, this is one.

As a teen sitting in a pew, a visiting pastor spoke giving the following example of human nature.
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. 
The pastor stood at a spot near the pulpit. “God is here” he said. 
He side stepped and moved over a foot or two.  “Bible based churches are here” 
Once again he moved to his left.  “the liberal churches, those who ignore the words of God, stand farther away.”
His last slide over “This is the devil.  This is where Satan is.”

He paused in the devil’s spot and then took another step to the left.
The Prince of Liars moves and what happens to the Christians.  Yep they each take a step to the left.  He moves again and again and the churches move.

After a few side moves in this visual, the bible based church was standing where the liberal church had been, the liberal church held satin’s spot.  Where was God?

He remained where He started.

Life has shown me how accurate that example is.

The Question
IF you had to explain the small gate and the narrow road

to someone who knew nothing about Christianity

what would you say?

   Matthew 7

The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

One Answer I found very interesting by Melissa Raabe Jacobs

 based on Andrew Wommack Ministries Commentary

I research and found so many deficient responses but this was the best I could pull together: In Matthew 7:13–14, Jesus said, “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.” This passage causes some to question the goodness of God. After all, if He really wants to save everyone, why didn’t He make it easier to be saved? Why doesn’t He simply let everyone into heaven?

When we read the word narrow, we tend to associate it with prejudicial selection. It sounds as though God has rated us all on some scale of acceptability and only allows a select few to enter His presence. However, few verses earlier, Jesus had told the same audience, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus made it clear: the path to eternal life is open to everyone who asks.

However, the gate to heaven is “narrow” in the sense of having a particular requirement for entrance—faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is found only in the Person of Jesus Christ; He is the only way (John 14:6). The “wide” gate is non-exclusive; it allows for human effort and all other of the world’s religions.

Jesus says that narrow gate leads to a “hard” road, one that will take us through hardships and difficult decisions. Following Jesus requires crucifying our flesh (Galatians 2:20; 5:24; Romans 6:2), living by faith (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 10:38), enduring trials with Christlike patience (James 1:2–3, 12; 1 Peter 1:6), and living a lifestyle separate from the world (James 1:27; Romans 12:1–2). When faced with the choice between a narrow, bumpy road and a wide, paved highway, most of us choose the easier road. Human nature gravitates toward comfort and pleasure. When faced with the reality of denying themselves to follow Jesus, most people turn away (John 6:66). Jesus never sugar-coated the truth, and the truth is that not many people are willing to pay the price to follow Him.
(The Greek word “STENOS” was translated “strait” in this verse, and it literally means “narrow” (Strong’s Concordance). Therefore, the criticism about Christians being “narrow-minded” is appropriate. If we want to enter in at the narrow gate, we need to be narrow-minded. There aren’t multiple ways to God; there is only one way, and that is through faith in Jesus as our personal Savior (John 14:6).
Isn’t it amazing that the better road is the one less traveled? We need to keep this in mind when tempted to follow the crowd.
Andrew Wommack’s Living Commentary.)
God offers salvation to everyone who accepts it (John 1:12; 3:16-18; Romans 10:9; 1 John 2:2). But it is on His terms. We must come the way He has provided. We cannot create our own paths or come to a holy God based on our own efforts. Compared to His righteousness, we are all filthy (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10). God cannot simply excuse or overlook our sin. He is merciful, but He is also just. Justice requires that sin be paid for. At great cost to Himself, He paid that price (Isaiah 53:5; 1 John 3:1, 16; Psalm 51:7). Without the blood of Jesus covering our sin, we stand guilty before the God we rejected (Romans 1:20).

The way to God was completely closed, and sin was the roadblock (Romans 5:12). No one deserves a second chance. We all deserve to stay on the “wide road that leads to destruction.” But God loved us enough to provide the path to eternal life anyway (Romans 5:6–8). However, He also knows that in our self-centered, sin-saturated world there are not many who will desire Him enough to come to Him on His terms (John 6:44, 65; Romans 3:11; Jeremiah 29:13). Satan has paved the highway to hell with fleshly temptations, worldly attractions, and moral compromises. Most people allow their passions and desires to dictate the course of their lives. They choose temporary, earthly pleasure over the self-sacrifice required in following Jesus (Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Matthew 10:37). The narrow gate is ignored. Most people would rather create their own religions and design their own gods. So it was with sorrow, not discrimination, that Jesus declared that the road to eternal life is “narrow, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14: This narrow way that leads to life [Greek – “ZOE”–”life as God has it” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary)] is not hidden. The reason that few find it is that people are looking in the wrong place. True Christianity is not popular (Matthew 7:13, Luke 6:26, and 2 Timothy 3:12). It includes self-denial (Matthew 7:12 and 16:24-26), and it takes effort (Luke 13:24).

Life consists of pieces of a puzzle. The talents, joys, pain and suffering in our lives come together to form odd shaped tiles. Often we stare confused at the strange pieces unsure where they fit in this world. With out even a glimpse of the final image we can not know where to place our puzzle pieces.

We push and prod trying to jam the odd shapes into any opening we see, but end up only bending and tearing our pieces. Occasionally we simply toss the odd shaped puzzle tile away sure it does not fit any where.

God waits for us to hand him those bunged up pieces of our lives. In his hand rests the final picture. He takes our tragedy, our talent, and those things we love the most; rotates them until they ease into the final master piece.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I boiled down the lines of the psalm 1 Chronicle 16 into what I think are the ten principles David taught his people about living a life of gratitude and as a result a life in deep relationship with God. I believe these principles were why David was a man after God’s own heart. These steps created a spirit filled with enough trust in God and with a love for God were his greatest desires was to do God’s will.

1) Give thanks to the Lord

2) Call upon his name

3) Make known his deeds

4) Sing unto him

5) Talk about his wondrous work

6) Glory in his holy name

7) Seek the Lord and his strength

8) Remember his marvelous works

9) Remember his covenant

10) Offering of thanksgiving