Enter Through the Narrow Gate

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Today is Saturday, as I write this. This blog will go out early tomorrow morning as the first one of this new year, twenty twenty-six. I’m excited to see what surprises the Lord has in store! 

It was a full week at work with new incoming Nursing students scrambling to finish their clinical compliance requirements. They are facing the hardest college semester they’ve ever had… but not nearly the hardest they will have, by far. 

Nursing school is not for the faint of heart. It takes discipline, focus, outstanding attention to detail, and a strong work ethic. Most importantly, and most relevant to today’s topic, it takes the ability to find “the best right answer” in a group of right answers. “Sure, you could do that in this situation, but is that the best right answer?” 

These students are learning to discern what is the single most appropriate action or decision when several options may appear medically correct. Choosing the wrong “right” answer means potentially getting that entire question wrong, losing points, and failing the exam… even though all the answers seem correct. I’ve seen it happen many times.

They thought they were choosing right, but they missed the mark. They were on the wide path. 

Those who make it through to the end of nursing school… and not everyone will, unfortunately… will have fine-tuned their skills to the point that the true right answer will stand out. They will know it based on their training and experience. Sure, mistakes will be made, but we all hope it’s not in our hospital room somewhere down the road. 

And that’s why nursing school is hard. It should be. It has to be hard because lives are on the line. They may not appreciate now the endless hours of study, back-to-back slots on the night-shift for clinical practice, or the hand-cramping drudgery of writing care-plan after care-plan for their patients, but they’ll appreciate it later when it all depends on them. 

When they finally step into their calling as a nurse. 

“But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.”

Matthew 7:13-14 AMP

Preparation of the Narrow Gate

“There are few who find it.”

I find so many parallels between students in nursing school and this Christian life. Just as they must “study to show themselves approved” to be safe around sick people, the Lord requires us to know His Word and do our best to become “a workman, tested by trial.” One who is able to “skillfully teach the Word of truth,” and has no reason to be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). 

Instead of always needing someone to teach us, there comes a time when we should be able to turn everything around that we have learned and teach others. A time when we move beyond the basic milky truths of salvation, commitment to Christ, and avoiding sinful behaviors (Hebrews 5:12-14). 

Yes, these things are true, but they are not the most important or most urgent truths in our lives today. Some of us get stuck there… I know I’ve been stuck there before… but God has so much more planned for us if we could just get past wading in the basics, in the shallow end of God’s pool of truth. 

What’s the best right answer?

Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. While we have the freedom in Christ to choose actions that are not explicitly forbidden, instead of always just doing what seems right or feels good in the moment, the Father is calling us to choose higher… to set the bar of our lives above our own normal… to discern Him and His ways in every situation. 

Instead of too many rich foods or Netflix binges or fiction book after fiction book, seeking selfish pleasure in things that could hinder our spiritual growth or harm our witness in Christ, God is calling us to a higher place of putting those things aside to seek Him out, to spend regular quality time in prayer and in His Word, and to worship Him in spirit and in truth on more than just a Sunday morning. 

There is more waiting for us if we can get past the starting block. 

We have been designed and created for such a time as this. We were born with God’s purposes written on our hearts, His finely crafted tools already perfectly placed in our hands. Are we simply checking the box of Bible reading and then moving on to our own agenda? Or are we actively receiving that Word and allowing it to change and shape our lives? 

This is the narrow way, and it’s narrow for a reason. The Bible speaks of a wide path of things that seem right and feel right, but they are actually wrong answers that lead to failure. Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. The Bible says in many places that it is “he who endures to the end” who will be saved, but those wide-path things lull us to sleep. That’s their full purpose, to be a distraction until Christ returns, because by then, it will be too late for us to seek Him and follow Him.

God is looking for our strong commitment and enduring faithfulness to Him. He is looking for perseverance, Christlikeness, and the fruit of His own Spirit dwelling in us. He is looking for the peace and joy Jesus died for us to have… a life fulfilled with purpose, focus, vision, and passion.

We’re not all the same, and those things will look different for each person! Our beloved type-A driven personalities, much like the nursing students I love so much, will scale the walls of greatness and high achievement in pursuit of the calling they have received, and that’s exactly where they need to be! Others will minister greatness to their children and uphold a brand new standard in their homes that says, the generational curse I grew up under stops HERE and NOW. It stops with ME, in Jesus’ name!

Both are equally important. Both are the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, so do not discount yourself if you look at your life and see something that hasn’t been glorified on the big screen. God’s not about that. He’s about keeping our eyes on Him, following Him as He shows us how, and doing what’s right just between us and Him. HE will take care of the rest.

Yes, His standards are incredibly high. The Bible says we are to be “perfect as He is perfect,” but that’s where the Good News of the Gospel comes in. Christ died to give us that perfection. He died to give us the power to overcome sin and to live in His higher standard of life.

Wherever we are with the Father today, it’s time to come closer. It’s time to let our fighting arms down and stop resisting Him. To stop kicking against the direction He is trying to take us. His chastening and discipline may not feel good in the moment, but it’s time to wake up and get moving… in His love, His grace, and His own power.

So this week, let’s take some time to put ourselves and our wishes aside. Let’s get silent and wait to hear God’s voice in our hearts and through His Word. “Lord, where would you have me read in Your Word today? How would You have me pray? What would you have me do with my life?” If we wait and can’t hear Him, then it might be time to search our hearts and evaluate our lives for sin, which hinders our relationship with God. We can ask Him for His help, even in our most difficult moments, confessing our sin to Him, and He will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

His plans for us are GOOD, and He can be TRUSTED. We will reap a harvest of faith, hope, and love if we don’t give up. Will you follow Him today as He shows you how?

This anointing acknowledges the special partnership each nurse possesses in the Lord’s continuing work of healing, and sends each of you out to that great work with love and confidence. God will use your hands to close the wounds and to calm the fears. He will use your hands to cause hearts to start breathing again, and your hands will be the last touch of comfort for those who will soon go on into eternity.

We bless your hands for service. May they be the hands of Christ the Healer as His Spirit lives on through you, in Jesus’ name.

Nursing Pinning Ceremony, The Blessing of the Hands