Cali thoroughly enjoys her hikes. We hiked on an isolated canyon road in Lytle Creek today. Beyond the paved section is a 13-mile dirt road that ends half-way between Lytle Creek and Cucamonga Canyon. The entrance is blocked for most of the year expect for a month or two during hunting season. Hikers and mountain bikers are allowed on the road during the off-season. The forest service has left a small opening at the end of the gate to allow foot travelers to enter.
Cali diligently obeyed the rules and went around the gate through the small opening on the side. She could have gone under the gate but the smell of bushes beside the road enticed her to take the foot path.
Once beyond the gate and just around the corner an entire canyon awaited Cali. Cali explored every bush on the hike. She sniffed the air, looked up the canyon sides for small furry treasures, and lapped water from a mountainside stream. Cali was in her element. She did not have a leash, stop signals, or loud, noisy vehicles passing her.
I remembered what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Jesus states, that in life, one may choose only one of two gates. One gate is broad but does not lead to God. This gate leads one to selfish pleasures, sin, lust, unlawfulness, and ultimate destruction. The narrow gate leads directly to God. This gate is Jesus Christ. By accepting Jesus into one’s heart and asking Jesus to forgive their sins through the blood He shed on the cross, one can find a beautiful and eternal life on other side.
If you are standing in front of these two gates, let me suggest you take the narrow gate. Just around the corner you will find Jesus waiting to escort you through a beautiful canyon.
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