"But I Ate in Your Presence..."

I took a break from Ezekiel this morning. Yes, this morning - it is now 12:11 am and I was trying to get to sleep, but I think that God had other plans for me. So...I opened my bible to my "New-Testament-I-need-a-break-from-the-prophets" place and I found lots to think about in Luke 13-14.

Since it is late (or early), I'll stick with Chapter 13. I find it very interesting how people back in Jesus' day could still not believe in who He was when they were in the presence of miracles and God in the flesh every day. But I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised because after all, we as human beings really just want to believe in our own reality anyway. We want to be right, even if it is to our detriment, which leads me to the passage about the narrow gate in Luke 13:22-27.

Luke 13:22-27 (NKJV)

22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’

How would it feel to have lived your life in the presence of Jesus (through church, friendships with Christians, bible studies, etc.) only to find out when it was time to walk through the "gate" into eternity, that God says to you "I do not know you...Depart from me..."? It saddens me to think of how many people this will actually happen to because they do not know Jesus personally. Like the people in the passage knocking at the door, many people in our culture think they are on the right path. How can we right this wrong and introduce more of them to Jesus?

Questions I think about:
1) Am I doing all I can do for God's kingdom?
2) What can I do to connect more people to God and to other Christians?
3) How can I encourage others to join in God's work?